infonews.co.nz
INDEX
BADMINTON

Coach Takes Title At National Champs

Sunday 8 August 2010, 8:09PM

By Dave Worsley

603 views

HAMILTON

Age was no barrier for TJ Weistra the former Dutch international when he won the national singles title at the Lion Foundation New Zealand Badminton Championships in Hamilton on Sunday afternoon.

Weistra, 34, captured the title with a straight game victory over Waikato player, Micaheal Fowke, who is barely out of his teens. Although not playing regularly in tournaments Weistra, who will play No3 in the Waikato Wisden Cup team, had a win over Kiwi No2, Joe Wu in the semifinals and was too classy in the final over Fowke, who had earlier beaten top seed James Eunson from Southland in the semifinals.

Weistra was previously ranked at 21 in the world during his 10-year stint of representing his birth nation, but has been in New Zealand for the past six years and had been the coach for the New Zealand team at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He is now the Waikato coach and after the weekends effort the new national champion.

The women’s singles title was won by Amanda Brown from the Waikato in a minor upset over Auckland’s Clare Chapple in 53 minutes 15-21 21-19 21-19

Commonwealth Games representative Donna Haliday won the mixed and women’s doubles title with her Dehli bound team mates, Henry Tam and Danielle Barry respectively.

In the mixed Haliday and Tam who have been ranked inside the world’s top-50 players beat the Waikato brother and sister pair of Oliver Leydon-Davis and 16-year-old Felicity Leydon Davis in three tight games. Oliver Leydon-Davis did manage to win one title when he combined with Tam to defeated Southland coach, Thana Arikrishanan(Southland) and Jian Chew from Wellington in 23 minutes for the title.

Players remain in Hamilton to play the prestigious Wisden and Slazenger Cup provincial competitions with Waikato the favourites to win their first ever title, showing a shift in strength away from the traditional North Harbour and Auckland regions.

Lion Foundation New Zealand Badminton Championships, Hamilton.

Men’s semifinals:

Michael Fowke(Waikato) bt James Eunson(Southland) 21-16 21-16, TJ Weistra(Waikato) bt Joe Wu(Waikato) 21-13 22-20.

Final

Weistra bt Fowke 21-12 21-7

Women’s semifinals:

Clare Chapple(Auckland) bt Madeleine Stapleton(Waikato) 22-20 21-14, Amanda Brown(Waikato) bt Emma Chapple(Auckland) 21-15 22-20.

Finals:

Brown bt Chapple 15-21 21-19 21-19

Women’s doubles final:

Donna Haliday(Auckland)/Danielle Barry(Waitakere) bt Clare Chapple(Auckland)/Emma Chapple(Auckland) 21-6 21-7

Men’s doubles semifinals:

Oliver Leydon-Davis(Waikato)/Henry Tam(Auckland) bt Kevin Dennerley-Minturn(Auckland)/James Eunson(Southland) 21-19 21-10, Thana Arikrishanan(Southland)/Jian Chew(Wellington) bt Brock Matheson(North Harbour)/James Paterson(Waikato) 21-16 22-24 21-15.

Final:

Leydon-Davis/Tam bt Arikrishanan/Chew 21-10 21-7

Mixed semifinals:

Henry Tam(Auckland)/Donna Haliday(Auckland) bt Jian Chew(Wellington)/Bronwyn Hopkin(Wellington) 21-11 21-8, Oliver Leydon-Davis(Waikato)/Felcity Leydon-Davis(Waikato) bt Te Ao Kura Van Selm(Waikato)/Doriana Rivera Allaga(Waikato) 21-8 21-15.

Final:

Tam/Haliday bt O Leydon-Davis/F Leydon-Davis 19-21 21-15 21-15