Badminton: Good pickings for top Kiwis

By TERRY MADDAFORD

While New Zealand's Olympic badminton cupboard is bare, the country's top players still helped themselves to some useful victories in the weekend's Auckland International.

Top singles player Geoff Bellingham, who at one time held some Olympic hopes, beat long-time rival and former New Zealand No 1 Nick Hall relatively comfortably in the men's final 15-4, 15-6.

Bellingham also paired with Chris Blair to snatch a second title at Badminton Hall when they upset New Zealand's top pairing of Daniel Shirley and John Gordon in an action-packed three-set struggle.

Bellingham and Blair won the first set 15-11 but dropped the second 6-15 before outlasting the favourites to take the third 15-12.

Hopes of a treble for Bellingham crashed in the mixed doubles final when he and Rhona Robertson went down in straight sets to New Zealand's other Olympic aspirants, Shirley and Tammy Jenkins, 7-15, 6-15.

That loss also robbed Robertson of a third title after she had beaten Japanese junior champion Miyo Akao 11-1, 11-3 in a lopsided women's final.

Akao had earlier put out top-seeded Australian Rayoni Head.

Long-time doubles pairing Robertson and Jenkins thrashed Olympic-bound Head and Kate Wilson-Smith 15-4, 15-1 in the women's doubles final.

Attention now switches to this week's New Zealand international tournament in Christchurch.