World Class Names Enter New Zealand International

The 2011 Li-Ning New Zealand Badminton International has punched above its weight with the list of entries confirmed today.

After securing a naming right sponsor in the form of sports brand company Li-Ning the Thursday 31 March – Sunday 3 April event to be held at the North Shore Events Centre will have players from 30 nations competing, including one player ranked in the top 10 and several in the top 20 in the world.

Nations such as badminton strongholds China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are all represented while some more exotic countries such Iran, Iraq, Peru, Switzerland, Turkey and Norway also have entrants.

Pui Yin Yip from Hong Kong will be the top seed in the women’s singles with a world ranking of 10, followed by Dutch representative, Jie Yao at 15. There are nine players ranked inside the top 50. The men’s singles has Hong Kong’s Yun Hu at No17, Muhammad Hafiz Hasim(Malaysia) at 26 and Indonesia Tommy Sugiato 30.

Dominating the men’s doubles are Singaporean pairs in the top two seedings while the Canadian pair of Nicole Gretter and Charmaine Reid are the top pair in women’s doubles with a ranking of 16.

The mixed doubles draw will have a top four seed line up from Hong Kong, Switzerland, Peru and Australia respectively.

New Zealand best hopes may rest with Michelle Chan in women’s singles who has been based in Europe and recently won the Estonian International.

The endorsement of Li-Ning is the beginning of a new two-year sponsorship between the world-wide apparel giant and Badminton New Zealand.

The relationship guarantees Badminton New Zealand will host a US$15,000 event this year and a Grand Prix status tournament (US$50,000) in 2012. The 2012 event will fall at the end of the Olympic qualifying period and therefore should attract an even larger player entry with the goal of chasing crucial qualifying points for the London Olympic Games . Li-Ning’s involvement in the sport in New Zealand is a half a million dollar investment into the event and national squads. They already sponsor the strong Chinese and Singapore national badminton teams.

New Zealand entrants will be warming up for the Li-Ning NZ International by taking part in the large draw at the Four Winds New Zealand National Championships this weekend 18-20 at Badminton North Harbour.