Badminton: NZ into world finals

New Zealand teams continued their progress towards the world finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup badminton competitions with a succession of 5-0 whitewashes in Invercargill today.

The men's team easily beat Fiji and Tahiti without dropping a game in the Thomas Cup, while the women downed New Caledonia 5-0 in the Uber Cup in the Oceania Teams qualifying tournament at Stadium Southland.

The women's team played a full-strength singles line up in Michelle Chan, Jessica Jonggowisastro and Anna Rankin as they accounted for New Caledonia, but should be pushed harder in their next match by trans-Tasman rivals Australia, who boast highly regarded players back from retirement in Chi Chia Chung and Kate Wilson Smith.

The men's wins over Fiji and Tahiti have also set up New Zealand for a finals playoff against Australia, with the winners travelling to the world finals in Malaysia in May.

Top New Zealand doubles pairing Oliver Leydon-Davis and Henry Tam found good form in their clash with Fiji's Shivneil Chand and Chi Ying Wong winning 21-6 21-3 in just12 minutes.

The Oceania team championships begins tomorrow and is followed on Tuesday by the Oceania individual championships until next Saturday:

Results:

Uber Cup (women):

New Zealand 5 New Caledonia 0 (New Zealand names first):

Singles: Michelle KY Chan bt Johanna Kou 21-11 21-11, Jessica Jonggowisastro bt Melissa Sanmoestanom 21-13 21-7, Anna Rankin bt Valerie Sarengat 21-5 21-8,.

Doubles: Donna Halliday/Danielle Barry bt Kou/Cecile Kaddour 21-6 21-10,

Jonggowisastro/Rankin bt Natcha Offlaville/Sarengat 21-5 21-7.

Thomas Cup (men):

New Zealand 5 Fiji 0 (New Zealand names first):

Men's singles: Joe Wu bt Shivneil Chand 21-9 21-4, James Eunson bt Burty Molina 21-10 21-8,

Oliver Leydon-Davis bt Chi Ying Wong 21-6 21-8.

Doubles: Kevin Dennerly-Minturn/Eunson bt Norman Bentley/Aaron Wong 21-3 21-7,

Leydon-Davis/Henry Tam bt Shivneil Chand/Wong 21-6 21-3.

New Zealand 5 Tahiti 0 (New Zealand names first):

Men's singles: Joe Wu bt Sebastien Bedrune 21-7 21-5, James Eunson bt Rauhiri Goguenheim 21-8 21-7, Kevin Dennerly-Minturn bt Teiva Livine 21-5 21-2.

Men's doubles: Henry Tam/Oliver Leydon-Davis bt Leo Cucuel/Livine 21-4 21-4, Dennerly-Minturn/Eunson bt Frederic Polteau/Bedrune 21-6 21-11.

- NZPA