Pictured: Abhinav Manota, New Zealand
Following a successful launch last year, the Oceania Tour returns in 2020. The initiative is linked to the Badminton Oceania Player Development programme, which is supported by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The aim of the Oceania Tour 2020 is to both encourage players in the region to support Oceania events and to provide the highest performing players with some additional support to enable them to attend international events or training camps with the long term aim of representing their country at high level events like the BWF World Championships and Olympic Games.
Last year, players from Australia swept the board across all five disciplines:
- Men’s singles – Pit Seng Low
- Women’s singles – Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen
- Men’s doubles – Simon Leung/Mitchell Wheller
- Women’s doubles – Gronya Somerville/Setyana Mapasa
- Mixed doubles – Simon Leung/Gronya Somerville
Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen lead throughout the entire of 2019 as she claimed her first win at the VICTOR Oceania Championships, using her prize money to attend more international events:
“The prize money was really helpful as it provided me with more tournament exposure. The money contributed towards my expenses to compete in Nepal and India, with a one-week training stint in Malaysia in between the two – I have learnt much from those experiences”
“The initiative is great, Oceania players need more opportunities like this to develop and be more competitive in the badminton world”, says Chen.
Chen started 2020 on another high, claiming her sixth consecutive women’s singles title at the VICTOR Oceania Championships, earning the top spot once again as the Oceania Tour 2020 gets underway.
New Zealand’s Abhinav Manota will be looking to bring a halt to Australia’s reign on the Tour as he currently leads the charge in the men’s singles and doubles after taking both titles at the recent VICTOR Oceania Championships 2020.
This year, there are seven tournaments which are eligible for players to earn ranking points towards the Oceania Tour 2020:
- VICTOR Oceania Championships 10-12 February
- YONEX North Harbour International 19-22 March
- YONEX Waikato International 26-29 March
- Barfoot & Thompson New Zealand Open 28 Apr – 3 May
- Australian Open 2-7 June
- Sydney International 10-13 September
- Bendigo International 17-20 September
The Oceania Tour rankings are now live, with the YONEX North Harbour International and YONEX Waikato International being the next tournaments to contribute towards the player initiative.
Find our more about the Oceania Tour 2020 here.
