Excitement is building in Saipan as the 2025 VICTOR Oceania Junior Championships draw closer. With the release of the official draw for the Individual Championships, anticipation is mounting for what promises to be a thrilling week of high-level junior badminton from 8–15 June in the Northern Marianas.
Let’s take a look at some of the exciting matchups for the individual competition from 12-15 June in the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium:
Men’s Singles:
Australia’s Shrey Dhand enters the competition in the favoured top seed position. Following a first round bye, he will face the up-and-coming Northern Marianas player Minul Hoque.
Young gun, Evan Seguritan (Northern Marianas) also received a bye through to the second round. He turned heads earlier this year, going undefeated through the entirety of the Pacific U15 Invitation Team Challenge. However, he will be up against the seasoned fifth seed, Kaiyin Mataio of the Cook Islands for a place in the third round.
The third seed, Australian Landon Kurniawan, does not have an easy road to the third round either. Mike Mi You, one of Tahiti’s rising stars, will push him to his limits in a bid for the win.
Women’s Singles:
Eight players received first round byes. Among those, Number one seed, Victoria Tjonadi, will be waiting to see the winner of the contest between Ruth Charmaine Bautista (NMP) and Jansu Du (FIJ) to determine her first opponent.
There will be a great battle between Shaina Malonzo and Maureen Mi You for a place in the second round against Cook Island’s Te Pa O Te Rangi Tupa.
The other players automatically through to the second round are Anita Mercier, Josephine Zhao, Offeia Yordy, Mimi Ngo, Maliti Chung, and Faye Huo.
Men’s Doubles:
New Zealand’s Raphael Chris Deloy and Lezhi Zhu will compete as the top-seeded duo. Along with most other competitors, they will receive a first round bye. Then, they will face Guam’s Yu Xuan Xia and Allan Zeng. It will be a battle of experience versus tenacity. Deloy and Zhu have the advantage of competing together on the world stage, whereas this is the first time the Guam duo will play together on a regional level.
New Zealand and Australia make up three of the top four seeds. Northern Marianas duo of Marlon Bautista and Dave Odicta are the only non-Trans-Tasman pair, coming in as third seeds. After their first round bye, they will face Tahiti’s Matt Chagnot and Mike Mi You. Chagnot and Mi You have played together in the Pacific U17 Invitation Team Challenge in 2024 and will be looking to upset their competition.
Women’s Doubles:
Four women’s doubles pairs will get sent through directly to the quarter-finals. The two Australian top seeds of Victoria Tjonadi and Seryna Xiao, and Mimi Ngo and Maureen Wijaya will be joined by Lana Toa and Te Pa O Te Rangi Tupa (COK), and Shaina Malonzo and Lina Tsukagoshi (NMP) in in the top eight.
Mixed Doubles:
The depth of Australian badminton is clear at the moment, with Jayden Lim and Victoria Tjonadi beginning the competition in pole position as top seed. Bypassing the first round, they will face the winner of the Kevin Du, Maliti Chung (FIJ) and Matt Chagnot, Malaval Ninon (TAH) matchup.
Second seeds, Landon Kurniawan and Maureen Wijaya will also be waiting with anticipation for the result of the match between Guam’s Yu Xuan Xia and Offeia Yordy, and New Zealand’s Lezhi Zhu and Qixuan Yang, as they will face the winner in the second round.
View the full draw here.
