Earlier this year, it was announced that most of the events in the VICTOR Oceania Championships (set to be hosted by North Harbour in New Zealand) were cancelled, including the Open Men’s and Women’s Team, Junior Mixed Team and Junior Individual tournaments, due to New Zealand’s COVID-19 related border restrictions.
However, the Open Individual tournament was postponed with the possibility of taking place in Week 17 of the BWF tournament calendar. Badminton Oceania has worked hard to move these Continental Championships to Melbourne, Australia and would like to thank Badminton Victoria for their co-operation and agreeing to host the tournament at such short notice.
The relaxing of restrictions in Australia, alongside the slowly easing border restrictions in New Zealand, allows for staff, players, coaches and officials to attend the tournament and return with minimal disruption. Moreover, players and team managers from Pacific countries are also able to enter Australia freely although some will still face quarantine requirements on their return home.
Therefore, it is with delight to announce that Badminton Oceania will deliver the Open Individual tournament of the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2022 from 28 April – 1 May at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.
It is a fitting tribute to the reprisal of international badminton in Oceania, that the last tournament to be held in the region prior to the global lockdowns was the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2020 (in Ballarat, Australia), and the first to restart our re-entry to the tournament calendar will be the 2022 edition.
PRIZE MONEY
There are even more reasons to celebrate, as the 2022 Championships will become the first time that prizemoney will be awarded to the winners and runners up of each discipline: $650 for the winner, $350 for the runner up in men’s and women’s singles; $325 for the winners and $175 for the runners up in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles (prize money in Australian dollars).
This is also complimented by further calendar revelations which were announced over the last month, including the four Grade Three tournaments (Sydney, Bendigo, North Harbour and Manawatu Internationals) which will take place across Australia and New Zealand between October-December, accompanying the CROWN GROUP Australian Open and New Zealand Open which are also scheduled for the last quarter of 2022. Find out more on the 2022 Events page.
OCEANIA TOUR
Together, this will bring a total of seven tournaments to the 2022 calendar and will see the restart of the Oceania Tour – an initiative which is linked to the Badminton Oceania Player Development programme. The Oceania Tour aims to encourage Oceania’s players to support regional tournaments and provides the highest performing players with additional support to enable them to attend international events or training camps. More information about the Oceania Tour will be released in March 2022.
“It is great to have confirmed plans to resume tournaments in our region and we thank everyone involved for their patience, work and assistance in getting us to this point”, says Badminton Oceania President, Geraldine Brown.
“We know players are eager to play international tournaments again and we look forward to making this prospect a reality in just over two months as we relocate these Championships to Victoria. It has been and still is, a challenging time for many of our members, with travel restrictions and isolation requirements which we understand will still prevent many from entering. However, this is a start and will be a good lead in for other tournaments planned for later this year”, says Badminton Oceania Secretary General, Julie Carrel.
More information about the event, alongside the tournament prospectus and entry link is available to view on the official event page – click here.
Follow Badminton Oceania on Facebook or subscribe to our eNewsletter to find the latest information from Badminton Oceania.
