There have been plenty of dynamic duos in New Zealand sport through the ages. The latest Kiwi combination to hit the headlines is badminton's mixed doubles team, Dan Shirley and Sara Runesten Petersen - bronze medal-winners last week at the world championships in Los Angeles.
The duo, who feature inthe final at Auckland's Equinox tournament today, have been a court combination for four years and won bronze at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. But their performance on the world stage has boosted their confidence ahead of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, in Melbourne.
Shirley said: "We know that, when we come up against the top pairs in the future, we've got the belief we can beat them."
Ranked 13 in the world, they have been as high as the top 10 and their recent form has put that mark in sight again. With that, though, comes growing attention. Shirley admitted: "Now I guess people will be studying us more closely because they know we're a bigger threat."
Runesten Petersen now has four medals from top-flight events - a silver and two bronzes from the Commonwealth Games, and a bronze from the worlds. "All I'm missing is a gold," she said.
Born in Denmark, she started playing badminton at seven and went on to win European under-18 mixed doubles and team titles.
In 2000, she took up New Zealand residency and is now a proud Kiwi. "This is where I live. All my medals are won for New Zealand," she said. But world success made Runesten Petersen more famous in Denmark than New Zealand. "The sport is so huge in Denmark. In New Zealand, people are just starting to understand its popularity."
Shirley, from Waitakere, has the game in his blood. "It's a family thing. My grandma (Valerie Gow), uncle (Steve Wilson), aunty (Alison Sinton), mother Lyn Shirley (nee Gow) and father Paul Shirley all played for New Zealand."
Making the semis at the world championships may have been a first for New Zealand but has not meant riches for the pair. "The world champs has no prize money. It's about prestige, like the Olympics, I guess," said Shirley. "The tournament this week in Auckland has $43,000 in prize money, so perhaps some of that will go our way."
Victory in today's mixed final would net them $1300 each.
