Seedings Confirmed For US$50,000 New Zealand Badminton Open
Friday 24 July 2009, 9:23AM
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The seedings for the US$50,000 New Zealand Badminton Open starting on Tuesday at the North Shore Events Centre have been confirmed with local players being named in some high positions.
Five New Zealand pairs have received a seeding; two in the women’s doubles and three in the mixed doubles, the highest being Henry Tam and Donna Haliday who are the second seeds in the mixed.
The men’s singles is headed by Yan Kit Chan(Hong Kong) at No9 with Indonesia’s Andre Jurniawan Tedjono 18 followed by former champion Tsuen Seng Lee(Malaysia) at 21 then England’s Andrew Smith rounded out the top four at 29. Two Indians are in the remaining seeds along with two Frenchmen.
The women’s singles seeds are dominated by Japanese players with five from that country in the top eight, however the No1 seed is Pui Yin Yin(Hong Kong) ranked 22nd in the world. Kristina Ludikova(Czech Republic) who has been using Auckland as a base is the only European player in the seedings coming in at No7 with a ranking of 59.
An Indian pairing is the top seeds in the men’s doubles at 19 in the world while a Hong Kong team leads the women’s doubles. Donna Haliday and Danielle Barry are seeded Kiwis along with the west Auckland teenage pair of Krittka Gregory and Mary O’Connor.
The mixed will be highly competitive with the world No11 combination of Yohan Hadikusomo Wiratama and Hoi Wah Chau(Hong Kong) followed by the New Zealand team of Haliday and Henry Tam while fellow Kiwis Joe Wu and Danielle Barry as well as Oliver Leydon-Davis(Waikato) and Auckland’s Emma Chapple are seeded. There are a number of unseeded Australian pairs and some Indonesians who will be dangerous floaters in the draw as well as an interesting match up of multiple Commonwealth Games medalist, Dan Shirley playing with Rachel Hindley.
Qualifying and some main draw matches start at 1pm Tuesday 28 July with matches progressing until the finals on Saturday 1 August.
Seedings:
Men’s singles:
Yan Kit Chan - Hong Kong - 9
Andre Kurniawan Tedjono - Indonesia - 18
Tsuen Seng Lee - Malaysia -21
Andrew Smith - England – 29
Anup Sridhar - India 37
Brice Leverdez - France 39
Anand Pawar - India 44
Mathieu Lo Ying Ping - France – 52
Women’s singles:
Pui Yin Yip - Hong Kong - 22
Megumi Taruna - Japan - 29
Sayaka Sato - Japan - 44
Maria Febe Kusumastuti - Indonesia - 42
Eriko Hirose - Japan - 56
Mayu Sekiya - Japan - 46
Kristina Ludikova - Czech Republic - 59
Ayane Kurihara - Japan – 68
Men’s doubles:
Rupesh K.T. Kumar & Sanave Thomas - India - 19
Fernando Kurniawan & Lingga Lie - Indonesia - 29
Teik Chai Gan & Bin Shen Tan - Malaysia - 49
Hirokatsu Hashimoto & Noriyasu Hirata - Japan – 45
Women’s doubles:
Tsz Ka Chan & Ying Suet Tse - Hong Kong – 88
Anneke Feinya Augustine & Anisa Wahyuni - Indonesia - 133
Danielle Barry & Donna Haliday - New Zealand
Kritteka Gregory & Mary O'Connor - New Zealand
Mixed doubles:
Yohan Hadikusomo Wiratama & Hoi Wah Chau - Hong Kong - 11
Henry Tam & Donna Haliday - New Zealand
Muhammad Rijal & Debby Susanto - Indonesia
Tontowi Ahmad & Richi Puspita Dilli - Indonesia
Arun Vishnu & Aparna Balan - Indonesia
Joe Wu & Danielle Barry - New Zealand
Fran Kurniawan Teng & Pia Zebadiah Bernadet - Indonesia
Oliver Leydon-Davis & Emma Chapple - New Zealand