Badminton: Whyte Trophy team thrash Aussies

New Zealand scored an emphatic 5-0 victory over Australia in the first test of the Whyte Trophy badminton series at North Harbour last night.

New Zealand won the mixed doubles, women's singles and men's singles to gain a 3-0 unassailable lead early on and then finished off the night with men's doubles combination John Gordon and Dan Shirley scoring a straight game win as did Manchester Commonwealth Games silver medallists Nicole Gordon and Sara Runesten-Petersen in the women's doubles.

With the first test sewn up New Zealand is aiming to win the bi-annual Whyte Trophy for an unprecedented fifth consecutive time.

It is the first time either nation has won a test 5-0 for more than 10 years.

The second test is on Thursday in Hamilton with the third test in Invercargill on Sunday.