Three weeks, three tournaments, and the same pair on top of the mixed doubles seeding. Andika Ramadiansyah and Nozomi Shimizu opened the ROKETTO Sydney International at the ROKETTO Badminton Centre in Lidcombe the way they have played for a fortnight: quickly. Around them, our players filled both draws, played each other in a string of all-Oceania matches and, in a few cases, sent seeded visitors home.
Top seeds make a statement
Australia’s Ramadiansyah and Shimizu, champions at both the MAXX North Harbour International and the YONEX Bendigo International, needed just 17 minutes to move through their mixed doubles round of 32. They defeated fellow Australians Shi Hang (Stephen) Lai and Jennifer Tam 21-5, 21-5.
Jack Yu and Angela Yu were pushed harder by compatriots Rayne Wang and Josephine Wu, winning 21-11, 19-21, 21-11 in 46 minutes. Third seeds Rio Agustino and Priska Kustiadi (AUS) were never troubled by New Zealand’s Dylan Soedjasa and Kishen Lew, 21-10, 21-18. Fifth seeds Raphael Chris Deloy and Sydney Tjonadi defeated Le The Hung Pham and Yao (Amy) Qin 21-12, 21-14.
Seeds fall, and our pairs take their chances
Australia’s Chauncey Yu and Maureen Clarissa Wijaya produced one of the results of the day, defeating the sixth seeds 21-12, 21-14 in 25 minutes. The seventh seeds, Kanki Igawa and Shrilalitha Supriya Yellapragada (AUS), went the other way, losing 21-7, 21-14 to Malaysia’s Tan Yi Han and Khor Jing Wen.
Timotius Elbert and Sylvina Kurniawan defeated Allen Hsu and Victoria Li 21-11, 21-14, and Juchel Andro Inog and Jing Yun Chiu defeated Michael Tam and Michelle Tam 21-12, 21-13, both all-Australian matches. Jordan Wang and Jazmine Lam advanced by walkover.
New Zealand’s Jonathan Curtin and Jenny Zhu had the day’s most lopsided Oceania result, defeating Australians Michael Chan and Shan (Susan) Wang 21-9, 21-6 in 18 minutes. Daniel McMillan and Camellia Zhou (NZL) took a first game against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Ting-Yu and Tsai Ruo Lin but lost 19-21, 21-18, 21-17 in 49 minutes.
Men’s singles: Oceania against Oceania, and a long day for Teoh
The men’s singles round of 64 was packed with our players, including three all-Australian matches, so three Oceania players were guaranteed a place in the next round.
Michael Su defeated compatriot Michael Tam 19-21, 21-10, 21-11, Dylan Chan defeated Nicholas Tran Quan Pham 21-16, 17-21, 21-13, and Evan Ji defeated Ruiqi Chen 21-19, 24-22 in a 49-minute match.
Elsewhere, a long day for Kai Chen Teoh ended well. He fought back to defeat Malaysia’s Chung Li Eric Choo 20-22, 22-20, 21-8 in 1 hour 6 minutes, the longest men’s singles match of the day. Emmanuel Stephen Sam defeated New Zealand’s McMillan 21-19, 10-21, 21-14, and Kong Teck Joon came from a game down against Singapore’s Ryan Tan Rui Yang, 18-21, 21-8, 21-8.
Reigning Oceania champion Shrey Dhand, seeded tenth, moved through with a 21-14, 21-17 win over Canada’s Hing Long Wong. Thirteenth seed Muhammad Rafi Zafran Ferary defeated England’s Heng Lin Ngan 21-16, 21-14. Ken Richardson defeated the Philippines’ Mark Anthony Velasco 21-17, 21-11, Asher Jing Jie Ooi defeated India’s Suveer Pradhan 21-15, 21-12, and New Zealand’s Dylan Soedjasa defeated Ernest Yu Loong Ng 21-4, 21-6 in 18 minutes.
Not everyone gets through
Ninth seed Karono Karono lost 21-17, 21-13 to Chinese Taipei’s Lu Chia Hung. Raphael Lydra lost to eighth seed Lau Jun Hui Marcus (SGP), and Yuan Hao Luo lost to second seed Liao Jhuo-Fu (TPE). Keith Mark Edison went down to Malaysia’s Chen Hong Chew in three games, and Pushkal Irusumalla retired against top seed Wang Po-Wei, who led 21-7, 7-1. Pit Seng Low, Caleb Teo, David Zhou, Alexander Lee and Billy Li also exited.
