The future of badminton is in good hands, with hundreds of junior and senior players taking to the courts throughout July. The school holiday break saw 84 junior teams from around New Zealand compete in the the Junior Team Championships in Palmerston North, followed by the New Zealand Under 15 and Under 19 National Championships in Hamilton. A week later, New Zealand's top senior players were contesting the National Championships in Papakura, rounding out a busy month of intense competition.
New Zealand Junior Team Championships
The New Zealand Junior Team Championships continues to grow, reflecting the strength and development of junior badminton across the country, with 680 players completing 3296 matches and playing a massive 238,671 rallies. Badminton North Harbour had a very successful event, completing a clean sweep of all Division One titles for the second year running. Taranaki were deserved winners of the Skarott Shield, with a big increase in both team numbers and results in 2024.
Winners
Under 13
- Div 1: North Harbour
- Div 2: Wellington North
- Div 3: Waitakere
Under 15
- Div 1: North Harbour
- Div 2: Mainland
Under 17
- Div 1: North Harbour
- Div 2: Bay of Plenty
Under 19
- Div 1: North Harbour
- Div 2: Mainland
A special thank you to the Palmerston North City Council, Sport Manawatu, Pub Charity, TAB, the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, FlyPalmy and Badminton Manawatu for their contributions to this important event.
New Zealand Under 15 and Under 19 National Championships
Waikato Badminton Association played host to 157 talented juniors in the second week of the school holidays, as they contested National titles in the Under 15 and Under 19 age groups across four days. The event began with a busy day of competition for the younger cohort, before being joined by the Under 19 players for the final three days.
Winners
Under 15
- BS: Shiqi Tong (NH)
- GS: Amy Wang (NH)
- BD: Ben Rambaud / Lingyi Zhu (CM)
- GD: Amy Wang / Rebecca Zhang (NH)
- XD: Larry Li / Rebecca Zhang (NH)
- Umpire: Cherry Zhang (CAN)
Under 19
- MS: Jack Ji (NH)
- WS: Yanxi Liu (NH)
- MD: Tristan Apalisok (CM) / Raphael Deloy (WKO)
- WD: Yanxi Liu / Natalie Ting (NH)
- XD: Raphael Deloy (WKO) / Yanxi Liu (NH)
- Umpire: Kevin Shi (WN)
Our sincere thanks to Hamilton City Council, Grassroots Trust and Waikato Badminton Association for helping make this event a big success.
New Zealand National Championships
Wrapping up the busy July period, the New Zealand National Championships were contested by 115 players at Counties Manukau. As the last qualifying event of the 2024 NZ Tour, the National Championships held extra significance as players chased a spot in the Finals.
Tony Yu and Yanxi Liu firmly established their credentials in senior competition, achieving exceptional results to reach the finals in Men's and Women's singles respectively, however the standout performer of the tournament was without a doubt North Harbour's Shaunna Li, who successfully defended her triple crown from 2023.
Winners
- MS: Edward Lau (NH)
- WS: Shaunna Li (NH)
- MD: Vincent Tao (NH) / Dacmen Vong (AK)
- WD: Shaunna Li / Alyssa Tagle (NH)
- XD: Edward Lau / Shaunna Li (NH)
Badminton New Zealand gratefully acknowledges the support of the Papakura Local Board, Sal's Pizza, Counties Manukau Badminton Association and our volunteer technical officials to deliver this event.