Badminton: First as pair in quarters

The badminton mixed pair of Dan Shirley and Sara Runesten-Petersen have scored a first for New Zealand by reaching the quarter-finals of a world badminton championships yesterday.

Seeded 15th, Shirley and Runesten-Petersen defeated a Thai pair, Songpol Anukritayawan and Kulchala Worawichitchaikul 15-4, 15-8 in 35 minutes in the round of 16 in Los Angeles.

The New Zealand combination hit 11 smash winners which was equal with their opponents but won the match with fewer unforced errors - eight compared to the Thais' 17.

Shirley and Runesten-Petersen also hit 18 net winners compared to the 12 of their rivals and had 12 to 7 in their favour in clear winners.

Shirley and Runesten-Petersen, who won a bronze medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, now face either sixth seeds Jae Jin Lee and Hyo Jung Lee from Korea or 13th seeds Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg from England for a place in the semifinals.

Meanwhile Rebecca Bellingham was defeated in the last 16 of the women's singles.

Bellingham, 27, was beaten 11-7, 13-10 by the seventh seed and Manchester Commonwealth Games silver medallist Tracey Hallam of England.

Hallam was too powerful for Bellingham, hitting 12 smashes compared to the six by the New Zealander to help to win the match.

Bellingham's effort meant that she scored the second best performance in singles of any Commonwealth Games representative behind Hallam.