Brilliant at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa and then at the Mini-Games last June in Saipan, Tahitian badminton came to Oceania with real ambitions. Ten badminton players therefore flew to New Zealand and its capital, Auckland, to reverse the chessboard of Oceanian badminton. Except that after two days of competition, the situation is rather hard for the Polynesian driving aces.
In men’s singles, of the six Tahitians entered in the draw, only Rémi Rossi passed the first round. The leader of the Polynesian delegation, ranked 311th in the world and in the top 15 of Oceania, held his rank by first disposing, on Sunday, of the Australian, Hongyuan Wong (21-19, 21-16). Then on Monday, Rémi Rossi followed up with another success in the second round by dominating another Australian, Gavin Kyjac Ong, in two sets (21-15, 22-24) allowing him to climb into the round of 16. A big piece in front of the Tahitian baddie, the tournament’s number 6 seed, the New Zealander, Ricky Cheng. The meeting must be played this Monday evening.
And so apart from Rémi Rossi, Tahitian badminton has not really been successful. Heiva Yvonnet, Teiva Politi, Rémy Goubin, Glen Lefoll and Kaihei Teiefitu were eliminated as soon as they entered the competition.
More ladies and juniors in the draws
On the women’s side, the only Tahitian involved, Jenny Maho, who was exempted from the first round, entered the competition on Monday, where she was opposed to the Kiwi, Gaea Galvez. The Polynesian could not do anything either and was swept away in 16 short minutes of play by her opponent (21-7, 21-5).
In the juniors too, the competition was tough for the Tahitian hopefuls. Among the men, Elias Maublanc and Colin Malaval were eliminated as soon as they entered the running. And among the ladies, Taphira Barsinas suffered the same fate as her comrades in the selection. Tahitian badminton will therefore wait a little longer before taking power in Oceania. Nevertheless the Polynesian delegation will have the opportunity to catch up at the end of the week with the team tournament.
