Pictured: Lucas Julliot, New Caledonia. Photo credit: Paul Foxall
JUNIOR INDIVIDUALS
The drama began to unfold on day two of the VICTOR Oceania Junior Championships, as a handful of top seeded players fell in the rounds of 16.
There were two upsets in the men’s singles draw as the third and eighth seeds were knocked out over three close games. For the third seed (Jayden Lim), it was excruciatingly close as every game went into extension.
- Emmanuel Stephen Sam (AUS) vs Jayden Lim (AUS)[3] 22-20 20-22 24-22
- Ken Goh (AUS) vs Jaden Mingoa (NZL)[8] 21-14 21-23 21-13
Later in the day, Jaden was able to make up for his singles disappointment by stunning the top seeds in the mixed doubles. Meanwhile, his fellow compatriots (third seeds, Chris Benzie and Camellia Zhou) crashed out of the draw in another three-game thriller.
- Jaden Mingoa & Victoria Guo (NZL) vs Jie Ying Chan/Maurenn Wijaya (AUS)[1] 21-19 21-14
- Frederick Zhao/Jazmine Lam (AUS) vs Chris Benzie/Camellia Zhou (NZL)[3] 19-21 21-17 21-18
“We didn’t have any expectations, just wanted to go out and play our best. We kept the attack well, we made sure not to give it away. We did a job of controlling the front & mid court. We were down in the first, but we weren’t worried about the score because our rallies were ok, so we knew as long as we kept attacking we’d make a break. We’re happy.”, says Victoria.
New Caledonia’s Lucas Julliot celebrated a win over New Zealand’s Preston Lee to become that last non-New Zealander/Australian left in the men’s singles draw. However, his campaign ended in the next round after Daniel Hu proved too strong.
- Lucas Juillot (NCL) vs Preston Lee (NZL) 21-13 21-11
- Daniel Hu (NZL) vs Lucas Juillot (NCL) 7-12 10-21
“I didn’t feel confident at first, I didn’t have expectations. But as I started playing I started to feel my game and with my coaches advice was able to play well”, says Lucas.
It was a similar story for his mixed doubles campaign too. Alongside Marine Souviat, the pair overcame their first challenge in two comfortable games, before New Zealand’s Shrey Dhand and Isabella Yan knocked the pair out the draw.
- Lucas Juillot/Marine Souviat (NCL) vs Tahitoa Webb/Tuaanaore Mitchell (COK) 21-14 21-10
- Shrey Dhand/Isabella Yan (AUS) vs Lucas Julliot/Marine Souviat (NCL) 24-22 21-11
“I was a bit stressed at the beginning, it took a while for us to get in sync but then we were very happy with our performance”, says Marine.
“I am really proud of our duo, because we are not mixed specialists, but we worked together to perform well”, says Lucas.
Cook Islands’ Tereapii Akavi and Te Pa O Te Rangi Tupa also missed out on a place in the women’s doubles quarterfinals, following their strong performance against a favored New Zealand duo.
- Rosie Yang/Josephine Zhao (NZL) vs Tereapii Akavi/Te Pa O Te Rangi Tupa (COK) 25-23 21-10
Check out all results from the VICTOR Oceania Junior Individual Championships 2023 on Tournament Software. Photos, videos and more are available to view on Facebook and Instagram. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #VOC23
The draw continues to unfold from 10.30am (local time, GMT+13) tomorrow, starting with the men’s singles and doubles round 32.
OPEN INDIVIDUALS
The Open Individuals Championships also witnessed some shock upsets as top seeds fell across the mixed doubles, men’s doubles and men’s singles.
There were two casualties from New Zealand as the second and fourth mixed doubles seeds succumbed to their Australian opponents, with both matches spanning over three games.
- Ricky Tang/Kaitlyn Ea (AUS) vs Adam Jeffrey/Justine Villegas (NZL)[2] 11-21 21-15 21-13
- Ming Chuen Lim/Sylvina Kurniawan (AUS) vs Dylan Soedjasa/Anona Pak (NZL)[4] 21-17 14-21 21-9
“We felt we were the underdogs and we weren’t expecting to win. We’ve never paired together in the open level so at the start we were quite nervous, but we kept it together & fought back to win the game”, says Ricky
Ricky’s rampage extended into the men’s singles draw too, where he ousted his third seeded compatriot.
- Ricky Tang (AUS) vs Adam Dolman (AUS)[3] 21-10 18-21 21-12
“I’ve had three matches today, the first game I was completely in control and my attack was really good. In the second I got a bit tired and wanted to save some energy for the third game. The third was a mental battle for sure, he was fighting but I didn’t let him get in my head & I put my foot on the pedal and made a gap, I didn’t let him affect my performance”, says Ricky
The 2019 runner-up, Remi Rossi, was able to better his 2022 campaign (where he exited in the round of 16). With two impressive wins today, including a win against the sixth seed, he becomes the only non-New Zealander/Australian to progress into the quarterfinals across all five disicplines.
- Remi Rossi (TAH) vs Gavin Ong (AUS) 21-15 24-22
- Remi Rossi (TAH) vs Ricky Cheng (NZL)[6] 21-18 21-19
“I am really happy to win against Gavin as it was a really tough one, tough opponent. The first game I played well, the second was better for him, but I held the pressure at the end and put the pressure back on him, so very happy to get through in straight games. It was another really tough match against Ricky who played really well. It was more of a mental match than physical, with shorter rallies so I had to think my way through and I’m happy I could finish it”, says Remi.
Moreover, the 2017 Champion and eighth seed this year in Auckland, Pit Seng Low, suffered an early exit at the hands of New Zealand’s Niccolo Tagle.
- Niccolo Tagle (NZL) vs Pit Seng Low (AUS)[8] 21-14 21-9
“I’m just really happy to be back on court after 3 years. I don’t have any expectations coming into this tournament, I’m just taking each match as it comes and really enjoying playing”, says Niccolo.
Meanwhile, the reigning champion (Edward Lau) survived a scare in the round of 16 as Australia’s Ken Richardson challenged him to a three-game encounter.
- Edward Lau (NZL)[2] vs Ken Richardson (AUS) 18-21 21-16 21-12
“It was a tough first round match for me. I struggled to find the court early, but after the first game I reviewed my tactics, and it worked out for me”, says Edward
The top two seeds in the women’s singles ease into the quarterfinals. Australia’s top seed, Tiffany Ho, saw off the challenge against New Zealand’s Caragh Alley in two comfortable games. Meanwhile, Louisa Ma received a walkover into the next round.
- Tiffany Ho (AUS)[1] vs Caragh Alley (NZL) 21-7 21-10
The women’s doubles pairs from across the Pacific Islands succumbed to the dominance of pairs from Australia and New Zealand.
- Ying Tse/Jasmine Wong (AUS) vs Jeanelyn Cardinio/Janelle Pangilnan (MNP) 21-13 21-11
- Sydney Go/Yueling Zhang (AUS) vs Soizick Ho-Yagues/Dgenyva Matauli (NCL) 21-7 21-5
It was double disappointment for New Zealand’s Anona Pak today, who was seeded first in the women’s doubles with Erena Calder-Hawkins. In their opening campaign, they faced two previous champions (Setyana Mapasa and Sylvina Kurniawan) who looked determined to win the 2023 title together.
- Setyana Mapasa/Sylvina Kurniawan (AUS) vs Anona Pak/Erena Calder-Hawkins (NZL) 21-14 21-13
The evening came to a tense end, as the top two seeds from New Zealand (including the reigning champions, Abhinav Manota and Jack Wang) were ousted from the men’s doubles draw in the round of 16.
- Gavin Ong/Kai Chen Teoh (AUS) vs Adam Jeffrey/Dylan Soedjasa (NZL)[1] 24-22 21-19
- Huaidong Tang/Ricky Tang (AUS) vs Abhinav Manota/Jack Wang (NZL)[2] 24-26 21-14 21-16
Check out all results from the VICTOR Oceania Open Individual Championships 2023 on Tournament Software. Photos, videos and more are available to view on Facebook and Instagram. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #VOC23
The tournament continues to unfold from 10.30am tomorrow morning (local time, GMT+13). Due to the Cyclone Gabrielle and minor effects on the playing venue, Some of today’s round of 16 mixed doubles matches had to be rescheduled for tomorrow. Consequently, these matches will take place before the quarterfinals (from 10.30am), with the semifinals starting from the later time of 6pm (local time, GMT+13). The semifinal of the mixed doubles will therefore be moved to Thursday, before the Finals session begin, with the mixed doubles Final also taking place later that day.
Courts one and two of the Open Individual Championships will be available to watch on Badminton Oceania’s YouTube Channel.
