New Caledonia enjoyed two wins at the Oceania Mixed Team Championships at X-TRM North Harbour Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, on Tuesday.
After an easy 5-0 over Guam, New Caledonia were stretched to the limit by Tahiti, eventually prevailing 3-2.
New Caledonia comfortably accounted for Guam 5-0 with Loic Mennesson/ Johanna Kou downing David Yao/ Michelle Kremper 21-12 21-6 in the Mixed Doubles. Further wins by Thomas Lahaut over Sunardi Li in Men’s Singles and Cecilia Moussy over Emily Yang in Women’s Singles gave New Caledonia an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Thomas Lahaut/ Loic Mennesson (Men’s Doubles) and Johanna Kou/Cecilia Moussy (Women’s Doubles) completed the sweep for New Caledonia.
New Caledonia coach Fabian Nadmimin was pleased with the outcome of the opening tie.
“Our objective was to win this game 5-0 and we achieved that and we wanted our best players to play. Our next objective is to beat Tahiti and there will be pressure on our players and team to achieve that target.”
His team did exactly that. Cecilia Moussy gave New Caledonia the lead after the third match, but Leo Cucuel/Hugo Sautereau won the Men’s Doubles over Lahaut/Mennesson in Men’s Doubles to take the match to the wire.
However, Moussy and Johanna Kou stood up to the task for New Caledonia, winning their Women’s Doubles over Aurelie Bouttin/Pauline Segrestan 21-14 21-14 to make it 3-2 for their team.
Tahiti and Tonga had mixed luck, each winning a tie, while Guam lost both its ties on the opening day. Tahiti beat Tonga 4-1 while Tonga beat Guam by the same margin.
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