The VICTOR Oceania Championships semifinals lived up to the hype. With strong performances across the board, we will see an even Australia-New Zealand split in tomorrow’s finals.
Here’s your day four recap:
Men’s Singles
Edward Lau looks set to go one better at this year’s Oceania Champs, coming out on top in a three-set thriller against teammate Ricky Cheng. While Cheng fought hard, he ultimately fell short to an impressive Lau performance, 12-21, 21-19, 8-21.
Shrey Dhand’s pattern of pulling off a three-game match is only extending. While his opponent, Ephraim Stephen Sam began strong with 21-17 first game, Dhand remained composed to come away with a clinical second and third game 21-8, 21-15.
“Going to three has been my strength in this tournament because I know I have the physical and mental edge in that final game,” Dhand said. “I worked really hard physically over the summer, so if it goes to three I’m more confident than nervous because I know I can still play fast while some of my opponents may slow down.”
Women’s Singles
After an incredible campaign so far this tournament, 14-year-old Amy Wang finally met her match. Although Wang toppled Shaunna Li in their last international outing, the reigning Oceania Champion was in a class of her own today. Li sealed the two-game win 21-19, 21-11.
“She’s a strong opponent, I play her a lot of the time at trainings so I knew that it would be a hard game today,” Li said of Wang. “Any wins and loses i’ve taken in the last year have definitely contributed to my performance today.”
Tomorrow’s game will be a rematch of last year’s final, with Tiffany Ho securing her spot this afternoon.
Going up against her young clubmate, Jesslyn Carissia, Ho was pushed throughout the first game. However, the seasoned competitior proved too strong, as she closed out the match 22-20, 21-13.
Mixed Doubles
Arguably one of the most anticipated matchups of the day was between Rizky Hidayat/Gronya Somerville and Andika Ramadiansyah/Angela Yu. This was the first time the two top Oceania women’s doubles players have faced off on the mixed court internationally. And it lived up to expectations.
In a match that was measured by the smallest margins, it was Ramadiansyah and Yu that emerged victorious.
On the other court, it was an all-Kiwi semifinal with hometown duo Ricky Cheng/Natalie Ting taking on Adam Jeffrey/Laura Lim.
The physical exertion was apparent from both sides, and the score reflected the rough waves both sides rode throughout the match. In the end, the homecourt advantage worked for Cheng/Ting and the pair pulled away to take the win.
“We were pretty nervous before and during the match,” Cheng said. “We stuck to what our coach said and just played the game she gave us.”
Women’s Doubles
Berry Ng/Amanda Ting personified perserverance on the court today. After trailing 21-12 in the first game to Australia’s Jasmine Lam/Yee-Yuan Lim, the young North Harbour players found their footing and turned the match around to launch themselves into their first Oceania Championship final.
“In the first set we were a bit nervous, so we lost it ourselves with our lack of consistency,” Ng/Ting shared after the match. “It was nice to have so many people supporting us. Everytime we won the rallies, everyone that was cheering, it was just great.”
Gronya Somerville and Angela Yu put on a masterclass in their match against the rising talents of Jesslyn Carrisia/Faye Huo. While the young duo managed to score a few clever points and outplay some rallies, they struggled to keep up with Somerville/Yu’s careful placement and tactical prowess.
Somerville/Yu will return to the court tomorrow for their second Oceania Championship final as a duo.
Men’s Doubles
In an all Kiwi quarterfinal, Raphael Deloy/Adam Jeffrey stormed to an early lead, but a motivated Chris Benzie/Dylan Soedjasa launched a comeback to clinch the match in two games 21-19, 21-19.
Rizky Hidayat and Jack Yu also showed why their are a pair to be feared, with a convincing 21-11, 21-7 win over New Zealand’s Vincent Tao/Dacmen Vong.
