Anthony Joe and Joy Lai scored a thrilling upset over second seeds Matthew Chau and Gronya Somerville in the 2016 Oceania Championships in Tahiti yesterday.
Australia’s Joe and Lai prevailed over their compatriots in a tense battle, 17-21 21-19 26-24, to enter the semi-finals against Simon Wing Hang Leung/Tiffany Ho. Top seeds Robin Middleton/Leanne Choo also made the semi-finals, beating local pair Nicolas Mouret/Julie Segrestan 21-9 21-8.
Tahiti’s Leo Cucuel/Remi Rossi made the last-four in Men’s Doubles, beating New Caledonia’s Jeremy Lemaitre/Carl Nguela 21-15 21-18. They next face Australia’s Anthony Joe/Pit Seng Low. In the top half, Matthew Chau/Sawan Serasinghe take on compatriots Daniel Fan/Simon Wing Hang Leung.
Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen and Joy Lai (featured image) stayed on course for a possible Women’s Singles title clash, entering the semi-finals yesterday.
The top two seeds, both from Australia, won in straight games. While Chen powered past Melinda Sun 21-11 21-15, Lai gave her opponent Hortensia Manzanal (French Polynesia) fewer points in a 21-9 21-4 rout.
Chen will play Jennifer Tam in the semi-finals, while Lai takes on Tiffany Ho.
Two of the four Women’s Singles semi-finalists will also figure in the Women’s Doubles semi-finals. Ho, partnering Jennifer Tam, received a bye in the quarter-finals and will meet local pair Miriau Prununosa/Julie Segrestan. Gronya Somerville and Melinda Sun enjoyed a 21-5 21-1 win over Tumata Leou/Mahrava Teiti (French Polynesia); their semi-final opponents will be home pair Aurelie Boutin/Chloe Segrestan.
There were no surprises in Men’s Singles, with the top four seeds – Pit Seng Low, Ashwant Gobinathan, Anthony Joe and Nathan Tang (all Australia) – entering the quarter-finals. The only non-Australian was Tahiti’s Remi Rossi, who won his second round against New Caledonia’s Jeremy Lemaitre 21-6 21-7.
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