1 Apr 2011

NZ Badminton International underway

6:15 am on 1 April 2011

New Zealand's top badminton singles players provided a couple of early highlights on day one of the New Zealand International at the North Shore Events Centre.

New Zealand women's number one Michelle Chan who is based in Europe and was a recent winner of the Estonia International title beat current national champion and qualifier Kylie Luo of Auckland.

Meanwhile top New Zealand male, Joe Wu of Waikato beating former Kiwi rep, Chance Cheng, although the path further into the tournament doesn't get any easier as he now plays tournament third seed and former All England Champion Muhmmad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia.

World number 12 and women's top seed Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong was all class in her first round match beating Japanese qualifier Kurumi Yonao 21-9 21-9 in 24 minutes.