Australia’s Wendy Chen won a record-extending seventh women’s singles title at the Badminton Oceania Championships today, beating Louisa Ma in the final.
“It’s fantastic,” Chen said. “I was nervous going in and playing against my teammate, but I was happy to just be able to play my game… Louisa played really well, I had a bit of a problem as she was closing in towards the end of the games because I was just thinking that this is the moment, but I had to go back and just take it point by point.”
In the men’s singles final, New Zealand’s Edward Lau went one better than his runner-up place from 2020, as he beat Australia’s Nathan Tang 21-18 21-10.
Seventh seed Lau had to work hard for that final spot when taken to three games in encounters with Rémi Rossi and Oscar Guo. However, he saved his best for the last as he took his game up a notch in his second game to seize the title for the first time.
New Zealand’s Edward Lau.
“I actually had no answers against Edward (in the second game), it was super solid. He was calm under pressure, and I tried to play faster but I made too many errors as that’s not how I normally play. He was the better player today,” said Tang.
“I’m feeling very proud… I didn’t feel any pressure and made sure I was able to play my game. This is definitely a big confidence booster,” said Lau.
Other Highlights
♦ New Zealand’s Abhinav Manota defended his men’s doubles title this year, although with a different partner, Jack Wang. Manota/Wang beat Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo/Ming Chuen Lim of Australia 21-14 23-21.
♦ Joyce Choong/Sylvina Kurniawan of Australia brought an end to Gronya Somerville’s campaign for a fifth consecutive title. Somerville was with new partner, Kaitlyn Ea, and they fell 21-19 21-15 to the top seeds.
♦ The highly anticipated mixed doubles did not disappoint, becoming the only final to go the distance over three games, only two minutes shy of the hour. Kenneth Choo/Gronya Somerville beat top seeds Oliver Leydon-Davis/Anona Pak 21-18 19-21 21-12.
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