Kiwis Beaten In Final Of Oceania Teams Champs

New Zealand has been beaten 5-0 by Australia in the final of the Oceania badminton teams championship, the Robson shield in Invercargill on Monday night.

The Australians continued their domination of home teams after earlier winning the Thomas Cup men’s qualifying competition and the Uber Cup women’s qualifying competition.

This time the inexperienced Kiwis looked like they could challenge for the title, especially after Henry Tam and Donna Haliday took Glenn Warfe and Kate Wilson-Smith to three games before capitulating 13-21 21-10 21-13 after leading 8-4 in the third game. The women’s singles was close for a game as Michelle Chan forced the first game to 23-21 but then fell away to Chia Chi Huang 21-9, while Joe We was outclassed by Jeff Tho in straight games.

The Oceania individual champs and junior championships start on Wednesday through until Saturday at Stadium Southland.

Results:

Oceania Teams Championship (Robson Shield) Final, Invercargill.

Australia 5 New Zealand 0

Mixed; Glenn Warfe/Kate Wilson-Smith bt Henry Tam/Donna Haliday 13-21 21-10 21-13

Men’s singles; Jeff Tho bt Joe Wu 21-8 21-11

Women’s singles; Chia Chi Huang bt Michelle Chan 23-21 21-9

Men’s doubles; Glenn Warfe/Ross Smith bt Kevin/Oliver Leydon-Davis 21-17 21-18

Women’s doubles; He Tian Tang/Kate Wilson-Smith bt Donna Haliday/Danielle Barry 21-11 21-16