Pictured: Oscar Guo, New Zealand. Photo Credit: Luis Veniegra Photography
Over 200 players from 21 countries congregated in Sydney Olympic Park today as the YONEX Sydney International 2022 got underway.
It is the first BWF Grade Three (International Series) tournament to take place in Oceania since 2019, before the global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the tournament calendar.
Day one opened with a handful of qualification matches across the men’s and women’s singles, men’s and mixed doubles, before the main draw of both singles disciplines got underway.
Chinese Taipei took charge of the men’s doubles qualification matches, progressing two pairs into tomorrow’s main draw. Meanwhile, New Zealand youngsters Isaac Chan and Jaden Mingoa received a walkover to set up a Round of 32 clash against Australia’s Lukas Defolky and Raymond Tam.
- Shao Hua Chiu/Ho Wen-Hsun (TPE) vs Marcus Kong/Rayne Wang (AUS) 21-16 21-13
- Lin Ting-Yu/Liu Tzu-Chi (TPE) vs Jonathan Curtin/Ryan Tong (AUS) 21-16 21-12
Tokyo 2020 Olympian and first seed this week, Jason Anthony Ho-Shue, made light work of his opening campaign, easing past his Australian opponent in just 19 minutes.
- Jason Anthony Ho-Shue (CAN) vs Vincent Nguyen (AUS) 21-8 21-6
Moreover, Australia’s Ying Xiang Lin become the first men’s singles seeded player (14th) to make a shock exit, overthrown by his rapid Thai opponent across three excruciatingly close games. Meanwhile, fellow compatriot Gavin Ong was denied the opportunity to cause another upset, despite his valiant efforts against the fifth seeded American.
- Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul (THA) vs Australia’s Ying Xiang Lin (AUS) 21-23 22-20 24-22
- Enrico Asuncion (USA)[5] vs Gavin Kyjac Ong (AUS) 21-15 25-23
Later in the afternoon, there were more surprises as the third and sixth seeds from Australia, Louisa Ma and Tiffany Ho (respectively), were knocked out of the women’s singles draw.
Louisa recovered from a disappointing first game (21-5) to shake up her tactics and bring the game back level, but her opponent piled on the pressure in the decider to secure her place in tomorrow’s round of 16. Tiffany’s opponent showed a similar trajectory, asserting her dominance in the second game to make her mark early on in the draw.
- Yu Chien Hui (TPE) vs Louisa Ma (AUS)[3] 21-5 16-21 21-12
- Zih Ling Huang (TPE) vs Tiffany Ho (AUS)[6] 21-18 21-9
Two out of the last three Oceania Champions in the men’s singles, Edward Lau (2022) and Oscar Guo (2019) eased through to the next round.
- Edward Lau (NZL)[8] vs Thomas Zi Xuan Ng (AUS) 21-6 21-7
- Oscar Guo(AUS)[12] vs Jordan Yang (AUS) 21-10 21-12
Meanwhile, Oceania’s seven-time and reigning women’s singles champion, Wendy Chen, survived a scare against Hong Kong China’s recently crowned national champion.
- Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen (AUS)[2] vs Saloni Mehta (HKG) 21-19 18 -21 21-18
All of the matches from courts one and two are available to watch on the live stream (also available after the completion of matches), via Badminton Oceania’s YouTube Channel.
Moreover, all results are available to view on Tournament Software – click here to view.
Photos, videos and more content from day one is available to view on Badminton Oceania’s Facebook page. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #SydneyInternational22
