Waitakere Go Back to Back at Wisden Cup

Waitakere Go Back to Back at Wisden Cup

Waitakere confirmed back to back Wisden Cup titles with a comfortable final round win at North Harbour Badminton Centre today, ending the perfect week with a 100% record that was made even better with their second team surviving as well to play another year in the top grade.

The result was never in doubt with the two Waitakere teams playing each other today, not that the second team was lying down, but the celebrations duly came the way of the Waitakere top team thanks to a 12-3 victory.

Commonwealth Games singles player Joe Wu led the way for Waitakere, albeit the second half of the competition was disrupted by illness with Wu sitting out a couple of ties. He had no regrets at all though in making the trip back home in between Glasgow and the World Champs in Denmark.

“This is our second year in a row as champions which is always a positive thing and our second team has done well to stay in division one so it has been a really good week for Waitakere.

“The Wisden Cup is a big deal for all the associations I think, this is a big thing in New Zealand badminton so I am glad I made the trip and came back for sure. I leave next Friday for Denmark and the World Champs which isn’t long but I will be fine and well recovered by then.”

If there is a name associated with Waitakere badminton, it is the name Shirley. Paul Shirley is Executive Director while son Dan is a four time Commonwealth Games medalist and long-time stalwart of the Wisden Cup and at age 35 is as dedicated as ever to the cause.

“It is pretty special for me being with the Waitakere Association for so long and my family has been involved for so long and Dad plays a big part in the Association. We say we are a close family at Waitakere and have all our supporters here, they follow us around a lot and it is really nice, it feels like we are doing it for them as well so yeah, we are really proud.”

Dan says getting past Auckland on the Friday night was probably the key match, but it was an all-round strength in depth that saw them through a tough week.

“We always knew Auckland last night would be difficult. We have a strong singles line up so all week we have got off to a strong start in all our ties. We had a couple of worries with a few injuries and illness to Joe, out top player. While that was a bit of a concern we got off to a 6-2 lead in most ties and our doubles and mixed is fairly strong and backed it up this year which was nice.”

As one of only two New Zealanders to ever win a medal at the World Championships (bronze in mixed with Sara Runesten Petersen in 2005), Shirley could be forgiven for putting his feet up and concentrating on his coaching. Just don’t tell him that.

“I love competing in team events especially, I have been training a little in the last couple of months but not a lot. I really like representing Waitakere and being involved with this team and our second team as well. We all like to socialize together and it is a tight knit unit which is nice.

“A lot of us have been working through the week and scrambling across for the five o’clock starts so it has been kind of draining like that, switching off from work and straight into the team event. I will be back next year if the body allows, I actually feel I am slowly getting better throughout the week but I am quite positive about playing at the moment.”

The other big battle of the day was at the other end of the table with the two sides yet to register a win clashing in a winner takes all contest – or should that be loser gets relegated. Waikato were understrength this week with the absence of their New Zealand players who did not return post Glasgow as they prepare for the World Championships in Denmark but their largely inexperienced line up did enough to defeat Southland 11-5 and ensure top level play in 2015.

Team Manager Phil Patterson was delighted with the effort of a team that frankly did not expect to be playing at this level.

“That was a sigh of relief when we got the nine points in the final tie, it has been a hard and long week. The team has come together really well, we have four under 17 players in our team and they have all played some awesome badminton with Alice Wu in that group and playing great in the number one singles spot.

“At the other end of the scale we have Peter Jensen our coach from Denmark playing he turns 45 this month and former Scottish international Alistair Gatt who specializes in doubles and mixed playing, they have both been really good and helped bring our younger players on through the week.

“Plus we brought back Asher Richardson from Germany, he had been studying at Waikato University but he is studying in Germany at the moment on a scholarship and playing professionally in Bonn, so he has come back and played awesome badminton this week with wins of James Eunson and Dylan Soedjasa as well.

“We spent a long time talking about it and decided we had to come here this week and stay in the top division and do it for those players who are overseas so they can come back next year and play Wisden Cup for Waikato. The goal this week was to stay up, it has been a hard week but we have done it.”

Earlier in the day Canterbury won the Slazenger (division two) Cup despite a final round 6-10 loss to Wellington North. The Cantabrians won the overall division two title by just three games on count back with Wellington North left ruing their poor performance against Auckland 2 earlier in the competition, leaving Canterbury with promotion to the Wisden Cup for 2015, replaced by Southland in the Slazenger Cup.

Wellington went winless through the week and drop back down into Division 3 after just one year in the Slazenger Cup. The Division 3 North v South final between Waikato 2 and Otago to decide the promoted team is played in September.

Wisden Cup Final Standings

Points Played Won Draws Lost Matches W/L Games W/L

1 Waitakere 1 5 5 5 0 0 66-14 135-37
2 Auckland 4 5 4 0 1 59-21 122-48
3 North Harbour 3 5 3 0 2 50-30 107-70
4 Waitakere 2 2 5 2 0 3 32-48 71-106
5 Waikato 1 5 1 0 4 19-61 49-129
6 Southland 0 5 0 0 5 14-66 41-135

Waitakere Wisden Cup Champions, Southland relegated to Slazenger Cup for 2015

WISDEN CUP day 5 – Saturday 16th August 2014

Auckland 1 defeated North Harbour 1 12-4

Men’s Singles

Samuel Ho lost to Kerywn Lee 17-21, 21-17, 21-8

Brent Miller def Brock Matheson 21-18, 21-9

Robert Batty def Nicco Tagle21-19, 21-18

Dylan Henton lost to Dylan Soedjasa 21-16, 21-17

Women’s Singles

Lilian Shih def Angie Leung 21-16, 21-15

Rowena Devathasan lost to Jessica Jonggowisastro 15-21, 21-10, 21-17

Jasmin Ng lost to Kin-Ah Kim 21-15, 21-9

Mei Hui Chiang def Vicki Copeland 21-15, 21-7

Men’s Doubles

Brent Miller/Samuel Ho def Dylan Soedjasa/Nicco Tagle 18-21, 21-11, 21-16

Henry Tam/Riga Oud def Maika Phillips/Brock Matheson 21-12, 21-17

Women’s Doubles

Kylie Luo/Lilian Shih def Angie Leung/Jessica Jonggowisastro 21-18, 21-19

Mei Hui Chiang/Stephanie Cheng def Vicki Copeland/Jin-Ah Kim 21-12, 21-10

Mixed Doubles

Samuel Ho/Stephanie Cheng def Brock Matheson/Vicki Copeland 17-21, 21-14, 21-18

Riga Oud/Mei Hui Chiang def Dylan Soedjasa/Jin-Ah Kim 21-17, 21-18

Brent Miller/Kylie Luo def Nicco Tagle/Angie Leung 21-18, 21-19

Henry Tam/Lilian Shih def Kerwyn Lee/Jessica Jonggowisastro 21-11, 21-16

Barfoot & Thompson Waitakere 1 defeated NZBA Waitakere 2 13-3

Men’s Singles

Daniel Shirley def Simon Koo 21-15, 21-11

Kent Palmer def Sean Carruthers 21-15, 21-13

Chance Cheng def Wayne Newman 21-11, 21-8

Luke Charlesworth def Hu He Maoni 19-21, 21-19, 21-16

Women’s Singles

Charlotte Rashleigh lost to Aishwarya Nair 21-11, 21-10

Rebecca Bellingham def Christine Zhang 21-14, 21-8

Soomi Lina Lee def Danielle Tahuri 21-14, 21-18

Hsiao Huan Chen def Ashleigh Karl 21-10, 21-12

Men’s Doubles

Luke Charlesworth/Kent Palmer def Hu He Maoni/Nick Hall 21-16, 21-18

Daniel Shirley/Geoff Bellingham def Simon Koo/Sean Carruthers 21-6, 21-14

Women’s Doubles

Hsiao Huan Chen/Charlotte Rashleigh lost to Belinda Taurua-Hill/Aishwarya Nair 21-18, 21-18

Soomi Lina Lee/Kritteka Gregory def Ashleigh Karl/Hayley Thompson 21-5, 21-17

Mixed Doubles

Luke Charlesworth/Charlotte Rashleigh lost to Nick Hall/Christine Zhang 21-16, 21-10

Joe Wu/Soomi Lina Lee def Sean Carruthers/Belinda Taurua-Hill 21-13, 21-8

Geoff Bellingham/Kritteka Gregory def Thomas Ellis/Hayley Thompson 21-13, 21-23, 21-10

Daniel Shirley/Rebecca Bellingham def Wayne Newman/Danielle Tahuri 24-22, 21-14

Waikato 1 defeated Ascot Park Hotel Southland 11-5

Men’s Singles

Chris Steeghs lost to Nic Raines 21-18, 21-12

Alistair Batt def Joseph Timms 23-21, 21-10

Vinny Harris def Luke White 21-8, 21-17

Asher Richardson def James Eunson 18-21, 21-13, 23-21

Women’s Singles

Jahvaya Wheki def Tayo Tobias 21-10, 21-12

Erena Calder-Hawkins lost to Phillipa Buzzard 13-21, 21-18, 21-15

Felicity Leydon-Davis def Hannah Wilson 21-10, 21-14

Alice Wu def Rachel Shaw 21-5, 21-9

Men’s Doubles

Alastair Gatt/Vinny Harris def Nic Raines/Joseph Timms 21-17, 18-21, 21-16

Asher Richardson/Peter Jensen lost to Croydon Rutherford/James Eunson 21-14, 21-11

Women’s Doubles

Alice Wu/Erena Calder-Hawkins def Rachel Shaw/Hannah Wilson 21-13, 12-21, 21-15

Felicity Leydon-Davis/Kelly Stern def Juneer Pontana/Tayo Dobias 21-13, 21-17

Mixed Doubles

Peter Jensen/Erena Calder-Hawkins def Nic Rains/Tayo Dobias 21-8, 21-11

Vinny Harris/Alice Wu lost to Croydon Rutherford/Rachel Shaw 21-19, 21-15

Matthew Graham/Kelly Stern lost to Joseph Timms/Philipa Buzzard 19-21, 21-19, 21-15

Alistair Gatt/Felicity Leydon-Davis def Luke White/Juneer Pontana 21-13, 21-14

Slazenger Cup, round five results

Wellington North defeated Canterbury 10-6
Men’s Singles
Leck Sheng Tham def Matthew Sercombe 21-14, 21-9; Elliot Pike def William Chen 21-16, 21-12; Jacob Morgan def Alfred Wong 21-16, 21-15; Chris Lee lost to Mani Abhinav 18-21, 5-21
Women’s Singles
Caragh Alley def Justine Villegas 21-19, 21-11; Pingkan Polak def Ella Vuleta-Dick 21-12, 10-21, 21-18; Alyse Derby lost to Anuradha Shrikhande 11-21, 8-21; Emily Beard lost to Tegan Weston 12-21, 13-21
Men’s Doubles
Elliot Pike/Jacob Morgan def William Chen/Alfred Wong 17-21, 21-15, 21-13; Chris Lee/Leck Chuan Tham def Mani Abhinav/Matt Foster 21-17, 21-11
Women’s Doubles
Pingkan Polak/Carragh Alley def Anuradha Shrikhande/Kirsty 17-21, 21-18, 21-14; Alyse Derby/Tanya Roberts lost to Tegan Weston/Ella Vuleta-Dick 21-16, 18-21, 21-15;
Mixed Doubles
Pun Thepkunhanimit/Caragh Alley def Alfred Wong/Anuradha Shrikhande 21-16, 21-12; Leck Sheng Tam/Tanya Roberts def Matt Foster/Kirsty Rademaker 21-8, 21-13; Jacob Morgon/Pingkan Polak lost to William Chen/Tegan Weston 18-21,21-13,21-16; Elliot Pike/Alyse Derby lost to Mani Abhinav/Justine Villegas 21-14, 21-18

North Harbour defeated Bay of Plenty 14-2
Men’s Singles
Callum Harfield def Daniel Cleminson 21-17, 21-15; Sascha Gaudlitz def Ricky Clement 21-13, 21-18; Oscar Guo def Trent Riddick 21-11, 21-16; Edwin Lau def Mark Hood 21-8, 21-19
Women’s Singles
Gaea Galvez def Delwyn Cooper 21-10, 21-11; Selena Wu def Renee Ainsley 21-13, 21-12; Deborah Yin def Sam Thomassen 21-8, 21-10; Rebecca Goddard lost to Emma Chapple 21-23, 14-21
Men’s Doubles
Zheran Li/Callum Harfield def Trent Riddick/Kelvin Ngim 21-19, 21-17; Edwin Lau/Oscar Guo def Mark Hood/Shane Espitalier 21-17, 21-13
Women’s Doubles
Deborah Yin/Jenny Matthews def Emma Chapple/Sam Thomassen 21-12, 21-14; Selena Wu/Kati Turver def Delwyn Cooper/Renee Ainsley 21-9, 21-16
Mixed Doubles
Steve Millikin/Kati Turver def Daniel Cleminson/Delwyn Cooper 21-12, 21-10; Oscar Guo/Selena Wu def Ricky Clement/Renee Ainsley 21-10, 21-17; Ediwn Lau/Jenny Matthews def Shane Espitalier/Emma Chapple 21-7, 21-13; Callum Harfield/Deborah Yin lost to Trent Riddick/Sam Thomassen 22-20, 21-17

Auckland 2 defeated Wellington 9-7
Men’s Singles
Ben Hillier def Rhys Hopkin 21-13, 21-18; Dhanny Oud lost to Yosef Sutrisna 23-21, 9-21, 2-21; Jonathan Curtin def Joshua Lee 21-17, 21-10; Daxxon Vong def Karl Dowland 17-21, 24-22, 21-14
Women’s Singles
Celine Shao def Bronwyn Hopkin 21-9, 21-18; Samantha Zhang def Emma Garnham 21-11, 21-10; Rebecca Jury lost to Ann Heimbrodt 13-21, 11-21; Sally Fu lost to Carol Wu 19-21, 17-21
Men’s Doubles
Ben Hillier/Sunil Dahiya lost to Aidan Karati/Yosef Sutrisna 21-17, 21-14; Daxxon Vong/Jonathan Curtin def Karl Dowland/Joshua Lee 26-24, 21-15
Women’s Doubles
Sally Fu/Samantha Zhang def Emma Garnham/Christine Dowler 21-17, 21-11; Rebecca Jury/Melissa Chai lost to Carol Wu/Ann Heimbrodt 19-21, 21-13, 21-10
Mixed Doubles
Daxxon Vong/Jolly Ng lost to Rhys Hopkin/Emma Garnham 21-11, 21-15; Ben Hillier/Melissa Chai def Aidan Karati/Bronwyn Hopkin 21-19, 15-21, 21-10; Jonathan Curtin/Sally Fu def 21-12, 19-21, 21-12; Sunil Dahiya/Rebecca Jury lost to Karl Dowland/Carol Wu 21-13, 21-17

Slazenger Cup Final Standings

Points Played Won Draws Lost Matches W/L Games W/L

1 Canterbury 4 5 4 0 1 53-27 116-68
2 Wellington North 4 5 4 0 1 50-30 113-74
3 North Harbour 2 3 5 3 0 2 47-33 101-79
4 Auckland 2 3 5 3 0 2 37-43 88-100
5 Bay of Plenty 1 5 1 0 4 25-55 57-118
6 Wellington 0 5 0 0 5 28-52 76-112
Canterbury promoted to Wisden Cup (div 1) and Wellington relegated to division 3 for 2015

For tournament draws and results, CLICK HERE

Wisden Cup History pre-2014

• First played for in 1934

• 73 competitions in that time

• Titles: Auckland 40, North Harbour (also as North Shore) 11, Waitakere 6, Wellington 6, Otago 6, Waikato 4, Southland 1

• Last five years in chronological order: Waitakere, Waikato, Waikato, Waikato, Waitakere

• *Otago and Wellington shared the 1948 title

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