Manawatu Joins NZ Tour in 2024

January 10, 2024

Badminton New Zealand is excited to welcome the Manawatu Open to the NZ Tour in 2024, joining Waikato, North Harbour and Canterbury. We gratefully acknowledge the exceptional work put in by Wellington North to host in the Central Region over the past two years and are confident that Manawatu will continue to build on their success.

With two years of the NZ Tour completed, the time was right to begin introducing new hosts and ensuring that the Tour remains fresh and exciting for players, while also providing opportunities for more associations to improve their capabilities and put on fantastic events. The addition of Manawatu, along with the return of North Harbour provides players with two different tournaments in the 2024 Tour.

Badminton New Zealand Events Manager Will Boyden is excited to see what the season will bring.

"We've seen the Tour bring out the best in badminton over the past couple of years, and its great to see associations striving towards joining the tour. Manawatu has a very skilled team and volunteers and I look forward to seeing them put on an excellent tournament."

Hosts of the New Zealand Junior Team Championships for the past 40 years, Badminton Manawatu are no strangers to hosting large events. General Manager James Veitch looks forward to the welcoming a strong contingent of players for the season's first Tour event.

"Badminton Manawatu are delighted that our Manawatu Open is joining the NZ Tour and we are excited to see all the usual faces and more testing their skills in Palmerston North. We're ready to build on the superb legacy started at Wellington North and we cannot wait to welcome all the players and officials who will make the event a huge success!"