The youngsters from Australia and New Zealand delivered a nail-biting display of badminton at the final of the VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team Championships 2019.
Australia’s brother and sister pairing, Jack and Angela Yu, finished the week with unbeaten in the mixed doubles. After winning the Junior Individual Championships, the talented pair got Australia off to a flying start in the Mixed Team event as they won a three-game thriller against New Zealand’s Jack Wang and Roanne Apalisok.
The first seeds, New Zealand, fielded their top two singles players who also won their respective events in the Junior Individual Championships. Edward Lau and Shaunna Li displayed their incredible fitness, agility and reactions to take both singles in two games, bring New Zealand to a 2-1 lead.
Australia’s Ricky Tang and Otto Xing De Zhao walked on to court in a must win situation to keep Australia in the running. The pair kept their cool and patiently waited for the opportunities to build the attack in a match that spanned over three games. The pair eventually sealed a victory for Australia after forty-five minutes, leaving the women’s doubles to decide which team would take home gold.
In the deciding game, Australia’s Kaitlyn Ea and Angela Yu comfortably won the first end, before a close second game saw the New Zealander’s start to take charge. Yu and Ea were trailing throughout the second but managed to regain momentum when it mattered the most and won the match to secure gold for the Australian Junior team.
“It was a bit of a shock as we were behind for much of our last game, but we’re really happy and excited to have won. All of the team have been really supportive and everyone’s focus today was purely on the court.” – Angela Yu, Australia Junior Team Captain
“We were technically the underdogs coming into the competition, but I knew our team had the potential to win as they have worked incredibly hard over the last year. We knew the singles would be difficult so it’s great that we managed to capitalise on the doubles. It’s a fantastic result and I’m proud of the juniors” – Stu Rowlands, Australia Junior Team Coach
“Obviously we were disappointed with the overall result that didn’t quite go our way, but I was really proud of how we fought and came together as a team to support each other when it was close. We had some tough losses today but are looking to bounce back and keep moving forward.” – Ella Smith, New Zealand Junior Team Captain
| Order of Play | New Zealand [1] | Australia [2] | Score |
| Mixed doubles |
Jack Wang Roanne Apalisok |
Jack Yu Angela Yu |
24-26 21-18 12-21 |
| Men’s singles | Edward Lau | Otto Xing De Zhao | 22-20 21-15 |
|
Women’s singles
|
Shaunna Li | Sydney Go | 21-12 21-19 |
|
Men’s doubles
|
Edward Lau Ryan Tong |
Ricky Tang Otto Xing De Zhao |
21-16 17-21 17-21 |
|
Women’s doubles
|
Roanne Apalisok Catelyn Rozario |
Kaitlyn Ea Angela Yu |
11-21 19-21 |
|
FINAL RESULT
|
2 |
3 |
Elsewhere in the competition, Tahiti lived up to their third seed status after overwhelming the opponents from New Caledonia in the bronze-medal play off. Starting with the mixed doubles, the team went from strength to strength and ran away with a 3-0 lead to seal the victory, before going on to finish the match with an overall 5-0 win.
Numerous youngsters competing in the teams from Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa have shown an incredible commitment to the sport. After coming through the BWF Shuttle Time programme – an initiative designed by the Badminton World Federation to get children into badminton – many of the aspiring players are now representing their country at these Championships and have displayed incredible sportsmanship and potential throughout the week.
First time competitors, Tonga, recovered from a defeat to the Cook Islands in the qualifying rounds, in a repeat match for fifth and sixth play off today. The youngsters brushed off the previous result and fought back to seal fifth place with a 4-1 win.
FINAL STANDINGS
| 1st | Australia [2] |
| 2nd | New Zealand [1] |
| 3rd | Tahiti [3] |
| 4th | New Caledonia |
| 5th | Tonga |
| 6th | Cook Islands |
| 7th | Fiji [4] |
| 8th | Samoa |
