BADMINTON - Smashing play tipped

Nobody at Northland badminton headquarters could recall exactly when an international badminton tournament was last staged in Whangarei. Suffice to say it has been a long time between shuttlecocks, so to speak.
The wait is now over though, because Northland badminton headquarters in Whangarei will become a "test" venue on Tuesday evening for round two of the Pan Pacific Under-19 Badminton Challenge.
It is a significant score for the low-profile Northland Badminton Association - a rare opportunity to put their sport on the radar in the province. So they are calling in the favours to try and make sure a decent crowd fronts up to see it.
Former Northlander John Moody, recently back from representing New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics, will be the guest star, arriving in town next week to promote the tournament.
Northland Badminton executive officer Delwyn Clements has been thrown in the organisational deep end.
"It's quite a big thing for us. We have really only had two weeks to work on it, but it will be a wonderful experience for us and will be great badminton to see," Clements said.
"It's just a matter of getting people to come and see it now," she said.
A teams event, the Pan Pacific Challenge will see the Australian under-19 team playing a three "test" series against the New Zealand under-19s. It is a young New Zealand team, but the standard of play was expected to be at a level far beyond that which Northlanders had seen in Whangarei for some time, Clements said.
Teams comprise six male and six female players with three men's singles matches, three women's singles matches, one men's and women's doubles each and three mixed contests. There is a predictably strong presence from the greater Auckland region in the New Zealand team. Luke Charlesworth and Emma Chapple were part of the New Zealand team in the World Junior Championships at Waitakere last year. The first round is at Counties Manukau on Monday and round three at North Harbour on Wednesday. Play starts at 5.30pm.