Badminton: NZ win Oceania teams title

New Zealand secured the Oceania teams championship badminton title in Auckland yesterday, beating Australia 4-1 in what proved to be the final.

New Zealand's only game loss came surprisingly in the mixed doubles, where world championship bronze medallists Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten Petersen went down 9-21 19-21 to Travis Denney and Kate Wilson Smith.

The result followed New Zealand's success last week in qualifying for the world finals of both the women's Uber Cup and men's Thomas Cup championships in Japan in May.

In both events, New Zealand beat their Australian counterparts in the finals of the qualifying tournaments at Auckland.

The Oceania individual championships start in Auckland tomorrow. The event carries ranking points which are critical for retaining players' Commonwealth Games rankings heading into next month's Games in Melbourne.

Oceania teams' championship final round result:

New Zealand 4 Australia 1 (NZ names first)

Geoff Bellingham bt Stuart Brehaut 21-15 21-19, Rebecca Bellingham bt Kellie Lucas 21-17 21-5, Daniel Shirley/Nicole Gordon bt Travis Denney/Ashley Brehaut 21-16 21-11, Sara Runesten Petersen/Nicole Gordon bt Kellie Lucas/Kate Wilson Smith 22-20 21-14, Daniel Shirley/Sara Runesten Petersen lost to Travis Denney/Kate Wilson Smith 9-21 19-21

Final standings:

NZ 1, Australia 2, Fiji 3, New Caledonia 4, Samoa 5.

- NZPA