Kiwis Dominate Doubles But Are Scarce In Singles

Westpac New Zealand Junior International Championship, North Harbour:

New Zealand singles players are in short supply in the semifinals of the New Zealand Junior International Badminton Championships at North Harbour.

Just one local has made the men’s draw and one in the women’s singles competition as well.

Canterbury’s Asher Richardson is the only male player to make the last four. The tall 17-year-old beat Australian Matthew Chau in straight games in his quarterfinal and will now face Terry Hee from Singapore in the semifinals. The other semifinal has Australia’s Hu-Wen Chew against Gerald Ong(Singapore).

Auckland’s Victoria Cheng is the solitary women’s representative in the singles after a she defeated Hui Min Cheong of Singapore to set up a clash with highly regarded Louisa Ma from Australia. The second semifinal is top seed Tara Pilven(Australia) versus country woman Verdet Kessler.

There are three Kiwi pairs in the mixed semifinals and two pairs – Riga Oud and Samuel Ho as well as Luke Charlesworth and Evan Lee in the men’s doubles semis while the women’s doubles semifinals features locals Mary O’Connor(Waitakere) and Madeline Stapleton(Waikato) and the North Harbour pair of Anona Pak and Aviva Pak.

Finals are from 10am on Sunday.

Results:

Men’s singles quarterfinals:

Hu-Wen Chew(Australia) bt Kirk Dinsyl Lim 21-14 21-12, Soon Lee Gerald Ong(Singapore) bt Brendan Tieu(Australia) 21-8 21-19, Asher Richardson bt Matthew Chau 21-15 21-9, Young Kai Terry Hee(Singapore) bt Samuel Ho 21-16 16-21 21-10

Women’s singles quarterfinals:

Verdet Kessler(Australia) bt Jacqueline Guan(Australia) 21-13 21-11, Victoria Cheng bt Hui Min Cheong(Singapore) 21-16 21-6, Louisa Ma(Australia) bt Lilian Shih 25-23 21-19, Tara Pilven(Australia) bt Yue Mian Gao(Singapore) 21-19 21-11,

Men’s doubles quarterfinals:

Evan Lee/Luke Charlesworth bt Te Ao Kura Ormsby-Van Selm/Maika Phillips 21-12 21-6, Samuel Ho/Riga Oud bt Honesto Buendia/Brendan Tieu(Australia) 21-15 21-12, Matthew Chau/Hu-We Chew(Australia) bt Kwan Ting Sean Lee/Kirk Dinsyl Lim(Singapore) 21-18 21-23 21-17, Yong Kai Terry Hee/Soon Lee Gerald Ong(Singapore) bt Kerwyn Lee/Asher Richardson 21-18 21-14,

Women’s doubles quarterfinals:

Angie Leung/Maria Masinipeni bt Susannah Leydon-Davis/Poh Lin Teo 16-21 21-11 21-16, Anona Pak/Aviva Pak bt Melinda Sun(Australia)/Melissa Yin(New Zealand) 21-9 21-8, Mary O’Connor/Madeline Stapleton bt Jacqueling Guan/Verdet Kessler(Australia) 21-10 21-10, Louisa Ma/Tara Pilven(Australia) bt Jet Ling Joline Chua/Jin Feng Fiona Seah(Singapore) 21-16 21-12.

Mixed quarterfinals:

Luke Charlesworth/Mary O’Connor bt Samuel Ho/Debbie Kwan 21-17 21-14, Soon Lee Gerald Ong/Jet Ling Joline Chua(Singapore) bt Evan Lee/Victoria Cheng 21-15 19-21 21-16, Asher Richardson/Madeline Stapleton bt Benny Suen/Lilian Shih 21-11 21-18, Honesto Buendia/Tara Pilven(Australia) bt Young Kai Terry Hee/Jin Feng Fiona Seah(Singapore) 21-14 12-21 21-14.