Pictured: David Joe Kaniku, Papua New Guinea. Photo credit: Ballarat Badminton For the first time in Oceania’s history, the able-bodied and Para badminton events have taken place in the same venue, in the same week. The last time the event took place was in 2018 at Geelong Badminton, with 23 players from 3 countries. In…
New Zealand and Australia showed no mercy on the opening day of the VICTOR Oceania Men’s and Women’s Team Championships 2020 in Ballarat. The stakes are high as the winning men’s and women’s team will travel to Denmark in May to compete in the TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup 2020. With five teams competing…
The mixed team event at last year’s Samoa 2019 Pacific Games ended with a spectacular twist as Fiji, New Caledonia and Tahiti were caught up in a three-way tie. The very last match of court between New Caledonia and Tahiti would decide the fate for all three teams – with multiple outcomes possible. With the…
Pictured: Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen, Australia. Photo credit: Ballarat Badminton MEN’S SINGLES The reigning Oceania junior champion Edward Lau stepped onto court in his first open final this evening. The 18-year-old was not to be underestimated as he stunned the men’s singles draw on day one when he ousted the fourth seed. However, the experience of…
Men’s Singles New Zealand’s Edward Lau lit up the hall this morning as he topped of his impressive run to tonight’s final in an exhilarating three game thriller. Lau is on track to follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion, Oscar Guo (also from New Zealand), who extended a legacy across the men’s singles…
The quarterfinals at the VICTOR Oceania Championship opened with the mixed doubles this afternoon. Top seeds Simon Wing Hang Leung and Gronya Somerville maintained their impressive run as they aim to defend their title from 2019. However, the second seeds from New Zealand, who are also in pursuit of Olympic qualification, suffered a shock exit…
Tonga’s campaign may have come to an end in Ballarat, but the team has plenty to take away from the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2020. One of the biggest achievements came from Lata ‘Isitolo who stunned the women’s singles gold medalist from the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games. In the second round of the women’s singles, the…
Day two of the VICTOR Oceania Championship 2020 began with a major upset as the third seeds were knocked out of the mixed doubles. Jacob Schueler and Jodee Vega were ousted by talented youngsters, Jack and Angela Yu, in two straight games. The first game a close encounter before the Yu siblings began to dominate,…
Pictured: Damus Matakinio and Morani Karikia, Cook Islands. Photo credit: Badminton Victoria When 15 and 16-year-old, Eleanor Wichman and Vaitoti Tupa walked on to the court against world number 79 pair, Oliver Leydon-Davis and Anona Pak, they knew they were about to be on the receiving end of their toughest match yet. It was a…
Pictured: Edward Lau (New Zealand). Photo credit: Badminton Victoria The second half of day one at the VICTOR Oceania Championship 2020 delivered a handful of surprises as the Men’s Singles seeded players exited the draw in the early stages. One of the biggest shocks on day one came from last year’s Oceania Junior Champion, Edward…