Kicking off the week-long regional Championships, the Individual competition for both Open and Junior players will take over the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre from Monday 11 – Thursday 14 February 2019, before the team event takes place over the following three days. Based on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) world’s rankings as of 22 January 2019, the seedings for the events are now available to view.
OPEN
In the men’s singles, Abhinav Manota is New Zealand’s only player to enter a discipline in the Open Individual event as top seed. The kiwi will be looking to retain his title as defending champion, whereas last year’s runner up, Remi Rossi of Tahiti, will begin the event as the fifth seed. Australia’s Daniel Fan will be looking to capitalise on his second seed positioning, with the hope of challenging Manota for the top spot onthe podium. Meanwhile, despite playing In the Open event before, this will be the first time that New Zealand’s reigning Junior Champion, Oscar Guo, will compete solely as an Open athlete after celebrating his eighteenth birthday last year. Guo will enter the Open competition with plenty of momentum, following his silver medal from the Team Relay event in the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games and other promising results with enough world ranking points to enter the Open event as sixth seed.
Elsewhere in the draw, it is Australia who dominate the number one seeds across the other four disciplines. Four-time Champion and Australia’s leading women’s singles talent Wendy Chen will lead the draw as first seed, while compatriots Louisa Ma and Jennifer Tam aim to steal the gold medal as second and third seeds respectively. New Zealand’s only women’s singles entrant, Sally Fu, will challenge the neighbouring country as fourth seed.
Simon Wing Hang Leung and Mitchell Wheller of Australia will lead the men’s doubles draw as first seeds. The more established pair have played eight tournaments together over the last season, meanwhile New Zealand’s Oliver Leydon-Davis and Abhinav Manota are preparing to cause an upset as a newly formed partnership. The kiwi pairing first played together in the Scottish Open 2018 and enter the draw as third seeds.
This year, we welcome the return of two-time reigning champion in the women’s doubles, Setyana Mapasa, following an injury-stricken 2018, and her partner Gronya Somerville. The Australian duo are defending champions and enjoyed a good run until the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games where injury has been a problem ever since. However, the pair are back in action, having recently competed in the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2019 and will enter the draw as first seeds.
Finally, in the mixed doubles, Gronya Somerville aims to go one better in 2019. Having won bronze in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and silver in 2017, can she go one better when competing as first seeds with her new partner for this event, Simon Wing Hang Leung. Ahmad Ali and Andra Whiteside will be flying the flag high for Fiji as they compete in the mixed doubles as the fourth seeds – Fiji’s only seeded players in the Open event. Meanwhile, reigning champion Setyana Mapasa has dropped down to fifth seed, but will be looking to step onto the top of the podium once more with her new partner, Hauidong Tang.
The full list of seeded players for the VICTOR Oceania Open Individual Championships 2019 are displayed in the table below.
|
Seed |
Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | Mixed Doubles |
|
1st |
[NZL] Abhinav MANOTA | [AUS] Hsuan-Yu Wendy CHEN |
[AUS]Simon Wing Hang LEUNG [AUS]Mitchell WHELLER |
[AUS]Setyana MAPASA [AUS]Gronya SOMERVILLE |
[AUS]Simon Wing Hang LEUNG [AUS]Gronya SOMERVILLE |
|
2nd |
[AUS] Daniel FAN | [AUS] Louisa MA |
[AUS]Cham CHEN [AUS]Toby WONG |
[NZL]Sally FU [NZL]Alyssa TAGLE |
[NZL]Jonathan CURTIN [NZL]Erena CALDER -HAWKINS |
|
3rd |
[AUS] Pit Seng LOW | [AUS] Jennifer TAM |
[NZL]Oliver LEYDON-DAVIS [NZL]Abhinav MANOTA |
[AUS]Yingzi JIANG [AUS]Louisa MA |
[AUS]Peter YAN [AUS]Talia SAUNDERS |
|
4th |
[AUS] Anthony JOE | [NZL] Sally FU |
[AUS]Lukas DEFOLKY [AUS]Raymond TAM |
[PYF]Ingrid ATENI [PYF]Esther TAU |
[FIJ] Ahmad ALI [FIJ] Andra WHITESIDE |
|
5th |
[PYF] Remi ROSSI | – | – | – |
[AUS]Huaidong TANG [AUS]Setyana MAPASA |
|
6th |
[NZL] Oscar GUO | – | – | – |
[AUS]Sawan SERASINGHE [AUS]Lee Yen KHOO |
|
7th |
[AUS] Peter YAN | – | – | – |
[NZL]Oliver LEYDON-DAVIS [NZL]Anona PAK |
|
8th |
[AUS] Jacob SCHUELER | – | – | – |
[NZL]Maika PHILLIPS [NZL]Alyssa TAGLE |
JUNIOR
New Zealand are on course to dominate the Junior Individual Championships this year, as representatives from the country take all first seed positions in every discipline.
Out of eight possible seedings, New Zealand hold six in the men’s singles, with the talented seventeen-year-old, Adam Jeffrey looking to live up to expectations as first seed. Australia and Fiji are the only two countries to challenge for the top eight spots, with Australia’s Gavin Kyjac Ong entering the event as eighth seed, while Fijian player Chang Ho Kim is seeded fifth. Kim enjoyed a memorable 2018, after winning a silver medal in the same Team Relay event as New Zealand’s Oscar Guo at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
Ella Smith arrives with the intent to take three medals home to New Zealand as she enters the mixed and women’s doubles event as the number one seed, alongside Ryan Tong and Jenny Zhu respectively. The talented player is on track for a podium finish in the women’s singles too, where she enters the draw as second seed behind her fellow compatriot, Shaunna Li.
Heinoa Deane and Teiva Politi, of Tahiti, will challenge New Zealand’s domination in the men’s doubles seedings lists, competing as third seeds, alongside fellow Tahitian’s, Louis Beaubois and Keivens Scilloux, who have qualified for the event as fourth seeds.
Meanwhile, Guam’s only seeded players across the entire event comes in the form of seventeen-year-old twins, Grace and Sarah Cai. The sisters will pair up for the women’s doubles event as second seeds, while Sarah has also qualified for the women’s singles event as the eighth seed.
The full list of seeded players for the VICTOR Oceania Junior Individual Championships 2019 are displayed in the table below.
|
Seed |
Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | Mixed Doubles |
|
1st |
[NZL] Adam JEFFREY | [NZL] Shaunna LI |
[NZL]Adam JEFFREY [NZL]Joshua FENG |
[NZL]Jenny ZHU [NZL]Ella SMITH |
[NZL]Ella SMITH [NZL]Ryan TONG |
|
2nd |
[NZL] Edward LAU | [NZL] Ella SMITH |
[NZL]Jack WANG [NZL]Ryan TONG |
[GUM]Grace CAI [GUM]Sarah CAI |
[NZL]Edward LAU [NZL]Shaunna LI |
|
3rd |
[NZL] Ricky CHENG | [NZL] Jenny ZHU |
[PYF]Heinoa DEANE [PYF]Teiva POLITI |
[NZL]Catelyn ROZARIO [NZL]Roanne APALISOK |
[NZL]Jack WANG [NZL]Roanne APALISOK |
|
4th |
[NZL] Jack WANG | [NZL] Roanne APALISOK |
[PYF]Louis BEAUBOIS [PYF]Keivens SCILLOUX |
[AUS]Majan ALMAZAN [AUS]Kelly XU |
[NZL]Adam JEFFREY [NZL]Catelyn ROZARIO |
|
5th |
[FIJ] Chang Ho KIM | [NZL] Catelyn ROZARIO | – | – |
[AUS]Marcus KONG [AUS]Kelly XU |
|
6th |
[NZL] Joshua FENG | [AUS] Angela YU | – | – |
[PYF]Teiva POLITI [PYF]Nina SMITS |
|
7th |
[NZL] Ryan TONG | [PYF] Nina SMITS | – | – |
[AUS]Ricky TANG [AUS]Majan ALMAZAN |
|
8th |
[AUS] Gavin Kyjac ONG | [GUM] Sarah CAI | – | – |
[AUS]Ryan VENPIN [AUS]Kaitlyn EA |
You can find out more information, including the seedings, current world rankings and ranking points in the documents below:
VICTOR Oceania Junior Individual Championships 2019 – seeded entries
VICTOR Oceania Junior Individual Championships 2019 – seeded entries
