Badminton: No joy for Kiwis

It was two losses from two finals for New Zealand players at the Ballarat Badminton International in Victoria.

Commonwealth Games representative John Moody couldn't quite defend his singles title, losing in straight games to Englishman Nich-olas Kidd 21-18, 21-15 in the final.

Moody is ranked at 34 while Kidd is 44 in the world. Earlier Moody had defeated Australian Stuart Gomez 21-15, 21-10 in the semifinals.

Maggie Chan accounted for Australian Erica Pong after being a set down 13-21, 21-16, 22-20 in a tough semifinal but was easily beaten by Taipei's Chia Chi Huang 21-8, 21-4 in the final.

Moody and Chan will play the North Harbour International which starts on Thursday.