New Zealand competitors have made the semifinals of four of the five events at the Auckland Badminton International, despite the strength of players from badminton stronghold Taipei.
TJ Weistra, the current New Zealand men's singles champion, made the last four of the men's draw after a straight sets win over one of Australia's best, Luke Chong. Weistra will now play Taipei's Chien Cheng Lai for a spot in the final.
Top seed James Eunson from Southland was beaten in a tough quarter-final, losing in three sets to Welshman Raj Popat 25-23 in the third game. Popat will now play Cheng Po Wei (Taipei) in the other semifinal after Wei had earlier beaten Kiwi Joe Wu in straight games in his quarter-final.
In the women's singles, former Commonwealth Games medallist Tracey Hallam (England) is through to the final four with three Taipei players. Hallam beat Australia's Tara Pilven in straight games in her quarter-final and will play Yu Chieh Cheng.
Hallam is also in the semifinals of the mixed doubles after teaming up with Auckland-based Englishman Tom Armstrong. They take on the Welsh/Indonesian pair of Popat and Devi Tika Permatasari.
