Badminton: Top seed's injury upsets badminton tournament

Top seed Huang Sun Ho, of Korea, was a surprise withdrawal before the start of the Waitakere International badminton tournament in Auckland last night.

Huang had to pull out with a leg injury, giving New Zealander Jarrod King an unexpected passage into the second round of the men's singles.

Otherwise the opening matches went with form, the seeded players progressing without dropping a set.

Second seed Ng Wei, of Hong Kong, beat New Zealand's Koo Stanley, while Geoff Bellingham, seeded third, cruised past fellow Waitakere player Tony Griffen 15-2, 15-4.

The championship, which has drawn one of the strongest fields to appear in New Zealand, is the final Olympic Games qualifying opportunity worldwide.

- NZPA