Photo credit: Badminton Photo
The Oceania Tour is a new initiative for 2019 which encourages players from Oceania to compete in the region’s tournaments to earn ranking points and a shot at prize money which can be used for international training and competition.
Out of the eight eligible tournaments which contribute towards the Oceania Tour, only three remain:
- Perth International (5 – 8 September)
- South Australia International (12-15 September)
- Sydney International (18 – 22 September)
The tour kicked off at this year’s VICTOR Oceania Individual Championships in Melbourne, with the winners picking up a huge 4000 point towards their Oceania Tour ranking.
The points are worked out based on the number of BWF World Rankings they would accrue at the tournament, with the eight eligible tournament results extracted and formulated in the exclusive Oceania Tour results – available to view here.
Australia’s Pit Seng Low is closing in on Oscar Guo’s (this year’s regional champion) top spot in the Men’s Singles. Guo has taken a break from competition while he undertakes his first year of University studies. Meanwhile, Low has accumulated points from 4 tournament so far and will have to overtake Oscar’s lead over the next three events, while battling with other contenders such as Anthony Joe and Abhinav Manota.
The Women’s Singles could go the distance too as Australia’s Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen, Louisa Ma and New Zealand’s Sally Fu are in close range across the top three spots.
“I think the Oceania Tour is really good for player’s development. It’s a good opportunity for Oceania players to travel if they get that to help with training”, says Sally Fu
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Doubles, Australia’s Gronya Somerville and Setyana Mapasa race away from the pack with an impressive 9090 points so far. Somerville’s reign extends into the Mixed Doubles too, alongside Simon Wing Hang Leung, the regional champions are storming ahead with 8720 points. Both pairs will be competing in the South Australia International to add to their final tally.
“If we happen to win, the money would go back into travel, training and tournaments”, says Gronya Somerville.
Simon could also celebrate doubles success on the Oceania Tour in the Men’s Doubles. Alongside Mitchell Wheller, the pair currently stand at the top of the leaderboard with 7860, with New Zealand’s Jonathan Curtin and Dylan Soedjasa in second place with 5590 point. Both pairs will be competing in the South Australia and Sydney International to fight for the top spot.
“It’s really motivating us to try and get the number one spot so we can get the extra support”, says Mitchell Wheller.
The Oceania Tour winners will be awarded following the last tournament of the Tour – the Sydney International 2019.
The #YONEXNH2019 was the second event from our Oceania Tour, which gives regional players a chance to compete for additional funding to assist their training and competitions. We caught up with some of the players to hear what the initiative means to them ⬇️Find out more about the Oceania Tour, including the newly updated ranking points here ➡️ bit.ly/2HQ3HWv
Posted by Badminton Oceania on Sunday, March 24, 2019
