Day one of the VICTOR North Harbour International 2022 opened with a singular mixed doubles qualification match before the main draws of the men’s and women’s singles sprung into action.
There were mixed fortunes for the players from Oceania. While the Continental men’s singles runner up in 2022, Nathan Tang got off to a scintillating start, his fellow compatriots Louisa Ma and Tiffany Ho were knocked out by strong members of the Chinese Taipei contingent.
- Nathan Tang (AUS) vs Jorgen Rosenlund (NOR) 21-12 21-3
- Wang Yu Si (TPE) vs Louisa Ma (AUS) 21-14 21-13
- Peng Li Ting (TPE) vs Tiffany Ho (AUS) 21-13 21-13
Moreover, New Zealand teenagers Chris Benzie, Angelina Ung and the youngest competitor at the VICTOR North Harbour International 2022, Yanxi Liu, suffered a first-round defeat as they start to build their portfolio. Yanxi was dealt with a particularly tough draw for her first encounter – Oceania’s reigning seven-time champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympian, Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen.
- Wu Cheng-Eng (TPE) vs Chris Benzie (NZL) 21-19 21-14
- Yi En Hsieh (TPE) vs Angelina Ung (NZL) 21-12 21-13
- Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen (AUS)[4] vs Liu Yanxi (NZL) 21-9 21-5
Elsewhere, Oceania’s reigning men’s singles champion Edward Lau enjoyed a comfortable win to progress into tomorrow’s round of 32, but the Oceania men’s singles runner up from 2019, Remi Rossi (Tahiti) bows out.
- Edward Lau (NZL) vs Julian Mao Lun Lee (AUS) 21-14 21-10
- Riki Taki (JPN) vs Remi Rossi (TAH) 22-20 21-8
Japan’s Momoka Kimura looked on track to cause a major upset as she was one game and 19-17 up against the third seed, world number 50 and women’s singles champion from the past two weeks (Sydney and Bendigo), Sung Shuo Yun. However, Sung made a remarkable effort to seize four consecutive points and take the second game, continuing the pressure into the third game to see off the valiant efforts of Momoka.
- Sung Shuo Yun (TPE)[3] vs Momoka Kimura (JPN) 15-21 21-19 21-10
Oceania’s women’s doubles pairs struggled to see past the round of 32 as most encountered members of the dominant contingent of recent tournaments – Chinese Taipei.
- Yi En Hsieh/Jheng Yu Chieh (TPE) vs Erena Calder-Hawkins/Anona Pak (NZL) 21-11 21-14
- Sung Shuo Yun/Yu Chien Hui (TPE) vs Gaea Galvez/Nanna Siegemund (NZL) 21-10 21-11
- Cheng Yu-Pei/Sun Wei Pei (TPE) vs Majan Almazan/Tiffany Ho (AUS) 21-10 21-9
Only Australia’s top ranked and Commonwealth Games 4th place finishers, Wendy Chen and Gronya Somerville were able to progress into tomorrow’s round of 16.
- Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen/Gronya Somerville (AUS) vs Chen Su Yu/Lu Hsiao An (TPE) 21-9 21-12
In fact, it was double delight for Gronya Somerville who later partnered up with Kenneth Choo. Together, they form the reigning Oceania mixed doubles champions and tonight they endured a 50-minute battle to book their place in Friday’s competition.
- Kenneth Choo/Gronya Somerville (AUS) vs Chen Hui-Heng/Wang Szu-Min (TPE) 21-10 21-23 21-15
Check out all results from day one of the VICTOR North Harbour International 2022 on Tournament Software.
All matches on courts one and two are available to watch on the live stream for free, via Badminton Oceania’s YouTube channel – click here to watch.
Day two starts with the men’s singles round of 32 at 10am local time (NZDT). Follow the latest news and find out more on Badminton Oceania’s Facebook page.
