Local players battle bravely at New Zealand Badminton Open

The Kiwi crew may have crashed out of the New Zealand Badminton Open without managing a finals appearance between them, but there is no need for the sport in this country to push the panic button just yet. A glance at the results of last week's tournament at Auckland Badminton Hall in Gillies Ave, Epsom, would seem to suggest the locals' performances should be consigned to the ''must do better'' file. But to write the event off as a failure, without considering the calibre of opponents the New Zealanders were up against, would be a grave injustice. The lack of locals in action on the last day wasn't so much a sad indictment of the state of the game here as it was a tribute to the talent of those they faced. The upgrading of the tournament in international status prompted a raft of Asian stars to head south and most lived up to their impressive billings. The titles were all won by players hailing from the sport's stronghold, although Taiwanese women's singles winner Chia-Chi Huang is in the process of becoming an Australian. However, the home guard did manage to put up some sort of a fight with the host city leading the assault. West Auckland husband-and-wife combination Geoff and Rebecca Bellingham reached the semi-finals of the mixed doubles, while fellow westie Dan Shirley and partner Craig Cooper reached the same stage in the men's doubles. The Bellinghams' loss was particularly significant for the couple as it meant the match was their last at this level. Both have now officially retired after serving their country well for a number of years. Shirley and Cooper gave their Indonesian opponents a good game and refused to be overawed, but were always playing catch-up and made several unforced errors. The last Kiwi to fall in the women's singles was young Aucklander Renee Flavell, and John Moody dropped out of the men's singles in the quarterfinals. Burgeoning pair Daniel Forrest and Massey High student Danielle Barry lost their mixed quarter-final to a Singapore team, while fellow newcomers Angela Wagner and Viraf Vazifdar fell to Australian rivals. Singaporeans also proved too good for New Zealand reserve squad member Henry Tam and his Spanish partner in the men's doubles quarter-finals. Tam will be hoping his team-mates exact revenge this week when New Zealand host Singapore in a threematch test series. - The final match-up in the Singapore series is on Friday, 7pm at Trusts Stadium, Henderson. - By Daniel Markham