The top seeds were fast off the mark on day one of the VICTOR Ocenaia Championships 2020. With vital World Ranking and Olympic qualification points at stake, there was no room for error in the early rounds at Ballarat.
Mixed Doubles kicked off proceedings, with the top two seeds making their way into the second round. Australia’s Leung and Somerville got off to a slow start but managed to find their form as they won in three games.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Oliver Leydon-Davis and Anona Pak eased past the Cook Islands juniors. 16-year-olds Vaitoti and Eleanor had their first taste of competing against a pair in the world’s top 100.
- Simon Wing Hang Leung/Gronya Somerville (AUS)[1] vs Jonathan Curtin/Catelyn Rozario (NZL) 21-15 14-21 21-10
- Oliver Leydon-Davis/Anona Pak (NZL) vs Vaitoti Tupa/Eleanor Wichman (COK) 21-3 21-5
The Cook Islands Junior team, who were active participants in both of last year’s Pacific Junior Development Camps in Auckland, had a tough morning agains top seeds and last year’s Oceania junior champions.
It’s been a huge morning for the juniors from Badminton Cook Islands, taking on the likes of reigning Oceania Junior Champions and the second seeds from Badminton New Zealand 🏸 #VOC2020 Over the last year, they’ve attended two Pacific Junior Development Camps in Auckland. Hear how they’re coping with the challenges in 2020 and some advice from top players ⬇️
Posted by Badminton Oceania on Sunday, February 9, 2020
- Jack Yu/Angela Yu (AUS) vs Danniel Daniel/Tereapii Akavi (COK) 21-6 21-5
New pairing from New Zealand Adam Jeffrey and Erena Calder-Hawkins were within reach of causing the first upset of the championships in a nail-biting third game against the sixth seeds. However, a seeded player or pair remains unbeaten on day one of the championships.
- Otto Xing De Zhao/Victoria He (AUS)[6] vs Adam Jeffrey/Erena Calder-Hawkins (NZL) 21-18 15-21 23-21
In the men’s singles draw, top seed Abhinav Manota showed complete composure and precision as he outwitted his opponent in two comfortable games.
- Abhinav Manota (NZL)[1] vs Otto Xing De Zhao (AUS) 21-10 21-8
Two finalists from the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games (Men’s and Women’s Singles) also made a promising start to their singles campaign. New Caledonia’s Dgenyva (who won gold in Samoa) and Yohan (who took the silver) seemed unphased in their opening games:
- Dgenyva Matauli (NCL) vs Nina Smits (TAH) 21-8 21-8
- Yohan De Geoffroy (NCL) vs Amandeep Sharma (AUS) 21-11 21-18
As the results narrow down to the round of 32, keep up with the draw and follow all results on Tournament Software.
Courts one and two are also available to watch on the live stream.
Join the conversation online using #VOC2020
