Play gets underway tomorrow at the Auckland Badminton International with some intriguing clashes in the early rounds of the tournament which features several Olympians and a former Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
A key first round contest at the Auckland Badminton Stadium is in the women's singles where former Commonwealth Games singles gold medallist and two-time British Olympic representative Tracey Hallam takes on New Zealand national championship winner Lilian Shih from Auckland.
Whoever wins that clash won't have it easy in the second round as they will play Angie Leung, the recent winner of the New Zealand under-23 Championships.
Aside from her Commonwealth Games success, Hallam reached a career-high world ranking of seven and made the singles quarterfinals at the Athens Olympics.
Top women's seed and Australian Olympic representative is Victoria Na, with Southland's Anna Rankin second seed. Both have byes into the second round.
