The VICTOR Oceania Championships 2023 will return to the Harcourts Cooper & Co North Harbour Badminton Centre from Friday 10 – Sunday 19 February 2023.
North Harbour hosted the combined (Open and Junior, Individual and Mixed Team) Continental Championships eight years ago and the Mixed Team competition in 2016. The association was supposed to host the 2021 edition (cancelled due to COVID-19) and the consequent 2022 edition. However, most elements of the tournament were cancelled once again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Open Individual tournament was postponed and moved to Melbourne at the end of April.
Following the re-opening of New Zealand’s borders and loosened COVID-19 restrictions, the Continental Championships can return to Badminton North Habrour in the 2023 edition, combining the following competitions:
- VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team Championships (10-12 February)
- VICTOR Oceania Junior Individual Championships (14-16 February)
- VICTOR Oceania Open Individual Championships (14-16 February)
- VICTOR Oceania Open Mixed Team Championships (17-19 February)
Historically, the junior disciplines only take place every second year (although the last time was in 2019) and they play a pivotal role in Badminton Oceania’s Player Development pathway.
In the days leading up to the event (8 and 9 February), Under-15 players from targeted Pacific countries (part of Tier 3 in the Player Development programme) will also be invited to take part in a training camp and under-15 individual competition, led by Coaching and Development Manager, Robbie Thackham. Moreover, the players will then get the chance to compete in an under-15 Mixed Team competition, competing alongside the VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team Championships (an under-19 event) from 10-12 February.
The last time the combined event took place in 2019, the largest entry ever was recorded in the Mixed Team event, with nine countries competing: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga.
Following the increased representation of players and teams from Guam, Northern Marianas, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna at this year’s Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022, there are exciting prospects for another record-breaking Championships.
The Open Mixed Team Championships will act as the qualification event for the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup 2023 (the Mixed Team World Championships), with the winning team going on to claim Oceania’s single spot in the prestigious biennial event which is scheduled to take place in Suzhou, China.
Badminton Oceania Executive Board member, Glenn Cox, is the CEO of Badminton North Harbour. Glenn and his team have extensive experience delivering events at all levels including the 2015 championships along with the YONEX North Harbour International in 2018 and 2019. They will also stage the North Harbour International 2022 from 19-23 October – the first International Challenge tournament to take place in New Zealand since 2011.
“As hosts of the inaugural continental championships in 1997, Badminton North Harbour is delighted to host the VICTOR Oceania Championships for the fourth time. Our association is one of the highest performing in New Zealand and we are committed to the development of badminton in the region, having also hosted junior development programmes with Badminton Oceania and Badminton New Zealand in the past and hopefully many more in the future.
Our venue is the training base for previous Oceania Champions, including Edward Lau, Abhinav Manota and Oscar Guo, who won the men’s singles titles over the last three Championships. We look forward to welcoming everyone to North Harbour in February 2023.”, says Glenn Cox.
More information about the event will be available on the 2023 Events page soon.
