AUSTRALIA DOMINATE THE DOUBLES WHILE NEW ZEALAND’S PRODIGY AND REIGNING JUNIOR CHAMPION, OSCAR GUO, CONTINUES A LEGACY IN THE OPEN MEN’S SINGLES
Both the men’s and women’s singles in the VICTOR Oceania Junior Individual Championships 2019 kept the crowds on the edge of their seats for over an hour today as both ties went the distance. In the women’s singles, Australian Olympian and four-time reigning champion successfully defended her title against compatriot Yingzi Jiang over three close games.
“It was a tough match today, I came off surgery recently and I’m just happy to be on court. There were ups and downs, but I managed to save it for the win.” – Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen, Australia.
|
|
Winner |
Runner-up |
Score |
|
Women’s singles |
Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen [1] AUS |
Yingzi Jiang AUS |
17-21 21-16 23-21 |
Meanwhile, two-time reigning Junior champion in the men’s singles has continued his run into the Open circuit, taking home his first Open men’s singles title against Tahiti’s Rémi Rossi. Two out of three games went to setting, ultimately ending with the kiwi star denying Tahiti of the chance to make history, as no player outside of New Zealand or Australia has ever won a gold medal from these Championships.
“I’m very happy to win this title. Rémi played a really good game and it was a tough match, especially when I was up in the second game, I had to dig deep to bring it back.” – Oscar Guo, New Zealand.
|
Men’s singles |
Oscar Guo [6] NZL |
Rémi Rossi [5] TAH |
24-22 20-22 21-15 |
A new mixed doubles pairing were crowned champions as the first seeds from Australia, Gronya Somerville and Simon Wing Hang Leung, showed plenty of confidence on court after defeating compatriots Sawan Serasinghe and Lee Yen Khoo in two games. The pair bought an end to Serasinghe’s reign on this event as he won the past two years with his previous partner, Setyana Mapasa.
“We had good intensity and got a pretty good result in the end so we’re very happy with our win today” – Gronya Somerville, Australia.
“We stuck to a game plan throughout and didn’t outplay ourselves. It’s the first time we’ve played this tournament together so we’re proud of what we’ve achieved this week.” – Simon Wing Hang Leung, Australia.
| Mixed doubles |
Simon Wing Hang Leung / Gronya Somerville [1] AUS |
Sawan Serasinghe / Lee Yen Khoo [6] AUS |
21-18 21-15 |
However, Sawan didn’t let defeat in the mixed stop him from taking the men’s doubles crown home for the fifth consecutive year. Having previously won the last four years with Matthew Chau, the Australian celebrates his fifth gold medal in 2019 alongside Eric Vuong.
“We came with a game plan and I’m quite happy with the way we executed it. Even when they tried to change things up, we had to stick with it and not let them get on top of us.” – Sawan Serasinghe, Australia.
| Men’s doubles |
Sawan Serasinghe Eric Vuong AUS |
Simon Wing Hang Leung/ Mitchell Wheller [1] AUS |
21-17 21-10 |
Finally, Olympians and first seeds from Australia, Gronya Somerville and Setyana Mapasa, brought all their experience to the Championships after storming through the final in two games against the third seeds Yingzi Jiang and Louis Ma.
“It was a straight game win and we played well today. We got off to a good start in the first set and tried to vary our serves.” – Gronya Somerville, Australia.
| Women’s doubles |
Setyana Mapasa/ Gronya Somerville [1] AUS |
Yingzi Jiang/ Louis Ma [3] AUS |
21-10 21-9 |
Many of the players featured in this article will be aiming to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. While the qualification period hasn’t started yet, this event is crucial in player’s preparations for qualification.
The players now look forward to the VICTOR Oceania Junior and Open Mixed Team Championships which take place from the Friday 15 – Sunday 17 February 2019.
The Junior event is split into two groups, with the finals taking place on Sunday 17 February, while the Open Mixed Team event is a round robin, with the team who accumulates the most wins taking home the coveted title of Open Mixed Team Champions.
Information on these draws can be found on Tournament Software – Open and Juniors.
