New Zealand Teams On Collision Course With Australia In Bid For World Champs

New Zealand teams have continued their good progress towards the world finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup badminton competitions after scoring more 5-0 victories in preliminary play but still have Australia in their way if they wish to move forward.

Held at Stadium Southland the men’s team easily beat Fiji and Tahiti 5-0 respectively without dropping a game in the Thomas Cup while the women beat New Caledonia 5-0, also without losing a game in the Uber Cup at the Oceania Teams qualifying tournament in Invercargill.

The women’s team played their full strength singles line up of Michelle Chan, Jessica Jonggowisastro and Anna Rankin as they accounted for New Caledonia but will need to be more prepared against Australia in the final late on Saturday as their trans-Tasman rivals have some highly regarded players returning from retirement such as Chi Chia Chung and Kate Wilson Smith.

The men’s wins against Fiji and Tahiti have also set the Kiwis up for a finals playoff versus Australia late on Saturday with the winner getting a trip to the world finals in Malaysia in May.

The top Kiwi doubles pairing of Oliver Leydon-Davis(Waikato) and Auckland’s Henry Tam hit some good form in their clash with Fiji’s Shivneil Chand and Chi Ying Wong winning 21-6 21-3 in just12 minutes.

The Oceania Team Championships - Robson Shield competition starts tomorrow (Sunday) Sunday and Monday followed by the Oceania Individual Championships and Oceania Junior Championships from Tuesday through Saturday 27 February.

Results:

Uber Cup (women):

New Zealand 5 New Caledonia 0

(New Zealand names first)

Michelle KY Chan bt Johanna Kou 21-11 21-11,

Jessica Jonggowisastro bt Melissa Sanmoestanom 21-13 21-7,

Anna Rankin bt Valerie Sarengat 21-5 21-8,

Women’s doubles:

Donna Halliday/Danielle Barry bt Kou/Cecile Kaddour 21-6 21-10

Jonggowisastro/Rankin bt Natcha Offlaville/Sarengat 21-5 21-7

Thomas Cup(men):

New Zealand 5 Fiji 0

(New Zealand names first)

Men’s singles:

Joe Wu bt Shivneil Chand 21-9 21-4,

James Eunson bt Burty Molina 21-10 21-8,

Oliver Leydon-Davis bt Chi Ying Wong 21-6 21-8

Men’s doubles:

Kevin Dennerly-Minturn/Eunson bt Norman Bentley/Aaron Wong 21-3 21-7

Leydon-Davis/Henry Tam bt Shivneil Chand/Wong 21-6 21-3.

Thomas Cup

New Zealand 5 Tahiti 0

(New Zealand names first)

Men’s singles:

Joe Wu bt Sebastien Bedrune 21-7 21-5,

James Eunson bt Rauhiri Goguenheim 21-8 21-7,

Kevin Dennerly-Minturn bt Teiva Livine 21-5 21-2,

Men’s doubles:

Henry Tam/Oliver Leydon-Davis bt Leo Cucuel/Livine 21-4 21-4,

Dennerly-Minturn/Eunson bt Frederic Polteau/Bedrune 21-6 21-11

Thomas Cup

New Caledonia 4 Tahiti 1.