Day two of the Crown Group Australian Badminton Open 2019 delivered a thrilling day of badminton across all five disciplines as the star-studded line up at this year’s event continue their pursuit for world ranking points and Olympic qualification.
Oceania had four players/pairs competing in the first round today, with wild card entries in the women’s and men’s singles and doubles.
However, it was the Australian pair who battled through the qualification were first up on court against the Malaysian’s
- Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing (MAS) vs Huaidong Tang/Jodee Vega (AUS) 21-9 21-8
“We often found ourselves under a lot of pressure, especially when we had to lift they were just relentless” – Huaidong Tong
Simon Leung and Mitchell Wheller were the first wild cards to take to the court, up against the Canadian pair who are currently ranked 50 places higher in the world rankings at 36. The
The Australian’s got off to a good start and were leading for the first half of the first game, before Ho-Shue and Yakura enjoyed a run of points to convert their 9-12 lag to a 14-12 lead and an overall win in two games.
- Jason Anthony Ho-Shue/Nyl Yakura (CAN) vs Simon Wing Hang Leung/Mitchell Wheller (AUS) 21-17 21-15
“Unfortunately, we let go of the easy points at patches within the match, especially in the second set“ – Simon Leung
In the women’s doubles, the experience of the world number nine Thai pair was evident as they stormed to the halfway mark in both games, before an intervention with the coach spurred on the Australians. However, it was too late to seize control of the game as the Thai duo won in two games.
- Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai (THA) vs Setyana Mapasa/Gronya Somerville (AUS) 21-11 21-10
Both of the men’s and women’s singles wild cards for Australia were draw against the first seeds in their respective events.
Firstly, the reigning regional champions, Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen was up against the world number three, Nozomi Okuhara, from Japan. Chen opened with confidence and looked comfortable while competing with the overwhelming favourite.
The competition was clearly a little too close to comfort for the first seed and she pushed her foot on the pedal in the second game to secure her spot in the second round after 38 minutes.
- Nozomi Okuhara [1] (JPN) vs Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen (AUS) 21-19 21-13
“I played really well in the first set. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the opportunity…I am still recovering from my surgery, so it’s just taking a lot of training to get back to where I was“ – Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen
Similarly, Australia’s Daniel Fan had the opportunity to take on one of his favourite player’s, Chou Tien Chen in the men’s singles. Just like many of the players in Australia, Fan is aiming for Olympic qualification and despite admitting defeat against Chen, there are plenty of learnings to take away from their first meet.
- Chou Tien Chen [1] (TPE) vs Daniel Fan (AUS) 21-11 21-7
“He’s got a lot more stamina and experience than me…I need to be calmer at the front and waiting for my shots to attack” – Daniel Fan
Find out all of the results from day two of competition on Tournament Software.
