Right from the first serve at the Badminton North Harbour Centre, the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2026 has delivered the action.
Players fought with intensity rarely seen in the first round of a tournament, with marathon matches and nailbiting games spanning the day. Between the opening rounds of the men’s and women’s singles along with the mixed doubles, there were plenty of players to root for throughout day one.
Men’s Singles
2017 Oceania MS Champion, Pit Seng Low (AUS) returned to the court for his 15th Oceania Championships. After two strong displays, he will continue his tournament bid tomorrow. Reflecting on his journey so far, Low said it’s the love of the game that keeps him coming back despite coaching taking up most of his time these days.
“I’m not as competitive as before,” he said. “But, just being on court whether I’m winning or losing, it’s just fun to play. I think I just love the game too much.”
Virk and Mi You shake hands following a close match (photo via Paul Foxall)
In the men’s singles Round of 128, Mike Mi You (TAH) put forward a tremendous fight.
The young player from French Polynesia pushed New Zealand’s Jasmanjot Virk all the way. As the crowd gathered around, the opponents traded lead. 30 was the lucky number of points it took to win the first game, and Virk was the champion. The Kiwi’s experience showed, as he then pulled away to a win to defeat the young Tahiti player 30-28, 21-15.
Another Tahiti player turned heads in the Round of 128. In his first Oceania Championships appearance, Alexis Bernard was poised to stage an incredible comeback. His opponent, Wesley Lau, looked ready to close out the match in straight games. Yet, in the final moments of the second game, Bernard forced errors and clawed his way back into the match by forcing a third. In the final game, the two were inseperable. In the closing stages of the match, Lau shone. He managed to inch out Bernard to scrape into the next round 23-21, 23-25, 24-22.
Followig the MS R128 and R64, all top seeds remain in title contention. Ricky Tang, Ephraim Stephen Sam, and Jack Yu (AUS) all comfortably defeated their opponents. Meanwhile, Edward Lau faced a strong challenger in his teammate, Daniel McMillan (NZL). McMillian succeeded in disrupting Lau’s momentum, but could not topple the number one seed.
Antoine Beaubois (TAH) and Elias Maublanc (TAH) are the only Pacific players still in the tournament after convicing wins in their R64 matches.
Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles
The opening round of the women’s singles and mixed doubles played out as expected. With few upsets, it is an Australia and New Zealand heavy contingent in tomorrow’s schedule.
A notable performance in the singles was Tahiti’s Heirautea Curet. The 21-12, 13-21, 21-11 loss to Australia’s Hanna Zhang doesn’t reflect the quality of the match.
In the mixed doubles, Fiji’s Hongrui Chen/Leilah Chung showed their strength in a commanding performance against New Caledonia’s Alexandre Milesi/Ashley Desert.
Adam Jeffrey/Laura Lin (NZL) also showed why they are a force to be reckoned with in their 21-16, 21-16 win against Australia’s Ying Xiang Lin/Mimi Ngo.
With the top seeds entering the competition tomorrow, things are only going to get more exciting.
