Badminton New Zealand is pleased to announce the calendar of events for 2022, with an exciting range of events as we look to bounce back from a disrupted season in 2021.
The season begins early with a couple of special Badminton New Zealand Summer Series events at the end of January and beginning of February. These fun events celebrate the return of badminton and are focussed towards our Under 15 and Under 19 players, whose season was unfortunately cut short before they had the chance to play in their National Championships.
Sanctioned events get underway on the first weekend of March, with a total of 42 events scheduled throughout the year, including five Masters' sanctioned events, which form part of the calendar for the first time ever. These events will all contribute towards vital National ranking points, which will prove useful for team events and National Championships later in the year.
2022 also sees the introduction of the NZ Tour - a series featuring the Waikato Open, North Harbour Open, Wellington North Open, Canterbury Open, and National Championships - which will see players vying for a top-8 finish in the tour rankings to qualify for the NZ Tour Finals.
National Championships visit a few new locations in 2022, with Masters being held in Queenstown, Seniors in Auckland, the combined u15 and u19 event in Tauranga, and the combined u13 and u17 event in Waitakere. Junior Team Championships remain in Manawatu, while the Wisden and Slazenger Cups move to Canterbury in the Zhu Badminton Centre.
At an international level, we are pleased to see the Australian Open and New Zealand Open scheduled for late November, as well as the new Oceania Masters event. We also expect to see the addition of several lower-level international events within the Oceania region towards the end of the year.
Update 22 December: Following the postponement of the Oceania Senior Championships and cancellation of the Oceania Junior and Team events, the calendars below have been updated.
Update 15 February: We are pleased to announce the addition of the North Harbour International Challenge (19-23 October) and Manawatu International Series (1-4 December). The New Zealand u13 and u17 National Championships moves to Waitakere.