One week after the BWF Future Series event in Auckland, the drama continues to unfold in Hamilton at the YONEX Waikato International 2019 – a BWF International Series event.
The biggest upset of the day came from last week’s champion at the YONEX North Harbour International 2019, who lost in the first round. In a repeat of what would have been last week’s final, Qin Jinjing and Qiu Ziying met in the first round at the YONEX Waikato International 2019. Jinjing was forced to withdraw from the final last week through injury but has brought her fighting spirit back to the court and won over three nail-biting games.
- Qin Jinjing (AUS) vs Qiu Ziying (CHN) 11-21 21-15 21-18
“I feel lucky to have won today. I will be fighting to stay in the competition and I hope this luck continues.” – Qin Jinjing.
In the women’s singles, Australia’s Tiffany Ho was also celebrating a first-round win over New Zealand’s Rachel Li. The Ozzie shuttler seemed elated to be back on court, following an ACL injury which kept her out of the badminton scene for the majority of 2018. However, Ho is celebrating double success today after being named in Australia’s nine-strong team for the 2019 Sudirman Cup.
- Tiffany Ho (AUS) vs Rahcel Li (NZL) 21-12 21-12
“It’s great to win today and I can take lots of learnings away from the experience. I haven’t processed the news about the Sudirman Cup yet as I want to focus on this event for now, but this is all good practice!” – Tiffany Ho.
In the men’s singles, Australia’s Adam Dolman is celebrating two singles wins on day one – defeating the eighth seed from the USA to secure his place in the third round. Dolman is also celebrating his return to court following a skiing accident over two years ago, but the player has high hopes to compete on the international circuit once again.
- Adam Dolman (AUS) vs Nicholas Robert Henson Waller (USA) [8] 22-20 21-14
“I go into every match with the attitude that I can win… I’ll hopefully compete in a few tournaments in Europe this year for more experience too. I’m just pretty pleased to be back on court for now.” – Adam Dolman.
Dolman also celebrated success in the men’s doubles event too, alongside Australia’s Jacob Schueler:
- Adam Dolman/Jacob Schueler (AUS) vs Adam Jeffrey/Evan Wong (NZL) 21-17 16-21 21-13
Another shock exit in the men’s singles competition came from Malaysia’s seventh seed, Eveshgaran Vasigaran who lost against Vietnam’s Hai Dang Nguyen.
- Hai Dang Nguyen (VIE) vs Eveshgaran Vasigaran (MAS) [7] 16-21 21-9 21-17
The first round of the mixed doubles was also underway on day one, with last week’s mixed doubles champions from the YONEX North Harbour International showing every intention of repeating their triumph, after overcoming New Zealand’s Adam Jeffrey and Catelyn Rozario in two games:
- Zhang Hanyu/Pan Hanxiao (CHN) vs Adam Jeffrey/Catelyn Rozario (NZL) 21-14 21-16
Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito also bought their A-game to Hamilton on day one. The eighteen-year-olds made waves on the BWF Junior International Grand Prix scene in 2018, and now they’re looking to break onto the open circuit after sealing a first-round win against strong New Zealand opposition:
- Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito (JPN) vs Edward Lau/Alyssa Tagle (NZL) 21-13 21-12
Similarly, last week’s men’s doubles champions from China, Xuheng Zhuanyi and Zhang Binrong are also looking to double their trophy count in New Zealand after overcoming Carlos Luna and Jack Wang in the first round:
- Xuheng Zhuanyi/Zhang Binrong (CHN) vs Carlos Luna/Jack Wang (NZL) 21-15 21-12
You can view all the results from day one and the schedule for day two (starting from 1pm) on Tournament Software.
Remember, you can watch the action from court seven on the live-stream, via the Badminton New Zealand YouTube channel.
