Women’s Doubles: Chih Chen Lee/Yen Yu Lin [TPE] v Su Yu Chen/Yi En Hsieh [TPE]
The first Final of the day was a clash between Chinese Taipei, with Lee/Lin representing club Land Bank and Chen/Hsieh from Taipower.
Lee and Lin show great strength early in the first to take a five-point lead at the interval and remained consistent to see out the opener 21-12.
In the second, Lee and Lin remained focused to see out the match 21-14.
Result: Chih Chen Lee/Yen Yu Lin def Su Yu Chen/Yi En Hsieh 21-12, 21-14
Women’s Singles: Jaslyn Hooi [SGP] v Hsin-Pei Tsai [TPE]
After a 76-minute Semi Final the day prior, Singapore’s Jaslyn Hooi was back on court in her first Final of the Oceania triple-header against Chinese Taipei’s Hsin-Pei Tsai.
Despite enduring a long match on Friday, Hooi went back to her strengths and tested Tsai with strong smashes and powerful rallies. However, Tsai’s consistency would eventually get the better of the Singaporean by taking the first 21-18.
At interval in the second, Tsai had a narrow three-point lead. Hooi remained valiant to stay within striking distance but in the end the three weeks on the road had caught up to the Singaporean.
Tsai’s swiftness and accuracy helped seal the second game with ease.
Result: Hsin-Pei Tsai def Jaslyn Hooi 21-18, 21-13
Men’s Singles: Chia Hung Lu [TPE] v Karono [AUS]
Australian Karono started the match confidently against Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hung Lu and swiftly accelerated to a 11-6 lead at the interval thanks to several powerful smashes which left his opponent without any form of answer.
Lu then found some rhythm to get back within striking distance of the Australian, eventually levelling the scores at 20-all. Karono returned to form taking the next two points to win the first 22-20.
Karono had no issues in the second, powering ahead to a lead and was on the home-straight to his first International victory in Australia.
Both players then committed to fierce rallies, but in the end Karono sealed the match with one his classic jump smashes to win the second 21-11.
Result: Karono def Chia Hung Lu 22-20, 21-11
Men’s Doubles: Po Yu Lai/Fu Cheng Tsai [TPE] v Hiroki Midorikawa/Kyohei Yamashita [JPN]
It was a true battle in the Men’s Doubles, the first three-game showdown of the day which was also a rematch from last week’s Final at the Roketto Sydney International, where the Japanese secured victory.
Chinese Taipei’s Lai and Tsai managed to secure the first game 21-16 over Midorikawa and Yamashita.
The Japanese answered back taking the second 21-14 to set up a thrilling third game.
Midorikawa and Yamashita had no issues capping off the match 21-14 to win their second title in two weeks.
Result: Hiroki Midorikawa/Kyohei Yamashita [JPN] def Po Yu Lai/Fu Cheng Tsai [TPE] 16-21, 21-14, 21-14
Mixed Doubles: Shaunna Li/Edward Lau [NZL] v Cheng Kuan Chen/Chih Chen Lee [TPE]
The last match of the tournament was by far the one the crowd had been waiting for. North Harbour’s own Shaunna Li and Edward Lau in the Mixed Doubles Final.
It wasn’t an ideal start for Li and Lau, with a very shaky start to see them fall to Chen and Lee 3-21 in the first.
It was another challenging few minutes to start to the second, with Chen and Lee ahead 11-2 at the interval. The Chinese Taipei players had an answer for everything the New Zealanders could do, seeing out the game 21-10.
Nonetheless, the home crowd couldn’t have been any prouder of what Lau and Li had achieved this week at North Harbour.
Result: Cheng Kuan Chen/Chih Chen Lee [TPE] def Shaunna Li/Edward Lau [NZL] 21-3, 21-10
Photos by Paul Foxall
Full results and more information: https://bit.ly/MNHI2024.
You can watch all the action live via the Badminton Oceania YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/MNHI2024StreamingPlaylist
