Badminton: New targets set beyond Olympics

By TERRY MADDAFORD

With New Zealand's faint hopes of having any representatives in the Olympic badminton draw now gone, attention has quickly turned to next year's world championships in Spain and the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

The first shots in that long build-up will be fired from today in the annual Wisden and Slazenger Cup tournaments being hosted by the Waitakere Association in Massey.

Former New Zealand No 1 Nick Hall, returning to Auckland after working in Sydney for the past year, will be back in action but with a different team.

The long-time North Harbour player has switched to Waitakere and joined what should be a winning team. He will be joined by Waitakere stalwart Dan Shirley, who with mixed doubles partner Tammy Jenkins (North Harbour), were New Zealand's last hopes for a place at the Olympics.

Waitakere are top seeds.

Amanda Carter, a member of the women's team whose medal bid at the 1998 Commonwealth Games ended in heartbreak, is another returning to action and adds further strength to the West Auckland team.

Rhona Robertson, who has also taken time out since Kuala Lumpur, will spearhead the Auckland team, while two other former internationals, Glen Stewart and Dean Galt, will head Wellington's bid to upset long-held northern domination.

Sheree Jefferson, another from the 1998 team but who announced her retirement from international play, will lead Waikato's challenge for the second-tier Slazenger Cup

Li Feng, sidelined by injury and virtually forced into retirement with a recurring knee problem, has taken the first tentative steps in a return to the court but not for the interprovincial contest.