Japan & Singapore Dominate International

Players from Japan and Singapore dominated the finals of the US$15,000 Li-Ning New Zealand Badminton International at the North Shore Event Centre sharing all of the titles between them.

Japan took away three of the five titles on offer with Singapore the remaining two.

In the men’s singles it was Japan’s Riichi Takeshita who completed a successful event by beating the top seed in the third round, another seed in the quarterfinals and then the third seed in the semifinals. In the final he continued his good form by dispatching the fourth seed Wing Ki Wong(Hong Kong) in straight games in front of a large and noisy crowd. Wong who was finalist at the last tournament in New Zealand two years ago was defeated 21-19 21-19 and was never able to quite get through the tough counter attacking style of Takeshita.

The women’s final also had a Japanese winner as 25th ranked Sayaka Sato, the tournament third seed was far too consistent for fourth seed Juan Gu from Singapore. The third Japanese title came in the women’s doubles which was the highlight of the finals day as Yuriko Miki and Koharu Yonemoto won an hour long battle 16-21 21-16 22-20 over the Hong Kong duo of Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse.

The Singapore team of Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Yu Yan Vanessa Neo won the mixed event with a straight game victory over a Japanese combination. Chrisnanta was also a winning in the men’s doubles when he teamed with Hendra Wijaya to defeat the Taipei team of Po Yi Huang and Chia Bin Lu in a surprising easy straight game final.

The majority of players move on to the US$100,000 tournament in Melbourne this week.

The 2012 New Zealand International event is already secured with sponsors and a date in late March which will be part of Olympic qualifying period. The tournament will also rise from its current prizemoney to a US$50,000 Grand Prix status.

Results: Li-Ning New Zealand Badminton International, North Shore Events Centre.
Men’s singles final:
Riichi Takeshita(Japan) bt Wing Ki Wong(Hong Kong) 21-19 21-19
Women’s singles final:
Sayaka Sato(Japan) bt Juan Gu(Singapore) 21-14 21-13
Mixed doubles final:
Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Yu Yan Vanessa Neo(Singapore) bt Takeshi Kamura/Koharu Yonemoto(Japan) 21-14 21-13
Women’s doubles final:
Yuriko Miki/Koharu Yonemoto(Japan) bt Lok Yan Poon/Ying Suet Tse(Hong Kong) 16-21 21-16 22-20
Men’s doubles final:
Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Hendra Wijaya(Singapore)bt Po Yi Huang/Chia Bin Lu(Taipei) 21-15 21-17.