The 2023 New Zealand National Championships will attract many players from around the country who will descend on Badminton Waitakere as the hosts of this year’s closed tournament.
North Harbour players feature as number one seeds in each of the five events. The second seeds of the women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles also feature North Harbour; Gaea Galvez and Justine Villegas will be looking for a successful campaign to feature in the finals on the last day of play.
Played from Friday 21 – Sunday 23 July, this tournament will crown the New Zealand Champion in five disciplines. The men’s singles feature eleven North Harbour players with number one seed Edward Lau looking to repeat his 2022 success in winning the men’s singles title. Chris Benzie, fresh off a runner up title at the New Zealand u19 Championships will be on the hunt for a place to contest the final, however, as an unseeded entry, he will need to keep focused to overcome some experienced players that will no doubt be looking to upset his plan.
Meanwhile, the women’s singles are a small but talented entry. Covering both senior and junior players, the top two seeds, Shaunna Li and Gaea Galvez, both from North Harbour will need to need to keep their wits about them with the winner of the New Zealand u19 Championships looking for further success.
Dylan Soedjasa, along with men’s doubles partner Adam Jeffrey (AK) secure the top of the draw. Established pair, Chris Benzie and Daniel Hu (AK) will aim to go one better than last week where they finished runner up at the New Zealand u19 Championships. Samuel Navara (WN) who won the junior men’s doubles event with Raphael Deloy (WKO), will be hoping his good form will carry him through to the latter stages of this tournament with new partner, North Harbour’s Jaden Mingoa.
Seasoned player, Anona Pak features in the number one seeded position with established partner Erena Calder-Hawkins (WTK). Galvez, along with Canterbury’s Jenny Zhu anchor the bottom half of the draw, encountering juniors Berry Ng and Amanda Ting (NH) in their opening match. Unseeded, but a huge threat will be the pairing of Shaunna Li and Alyssa Tagle. These two powerhouse players will be looking to eliminate their competition on their way to the sticky end of the tournament and a possible New Zealand title.
Having played a starring role in North Harbour’s Wisden Cup win, number one seeds Edward Lau and Shaunna Li will be looking to dominate the mixed doubles. Aiming to rain on their parade will be second seed Adam Jeffrey (AK) and Justine Villegas (NH), back in New Zealand after recently traveling through Europe for training and tournaments. With sixteen pair in the draw featuring North Harbour players, the push for a finals berth could be black, white and maroon. Our juniors, who have shown promise across their last two national tournaments, will be looking to make the most of their opportunity in this open tournament, maybe causing an upset along the way.
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Badminton Waitakere, 149 Royal Rd, Massey
Friday 21 – Sunday 23 July
