By TERRY MADDAFORD
On one side of the net, budding 13 and 14-year-olds taking their first tentative steps in badminton's big time.
On the other, New Zealand's most successful player making a comeback at 61 years.
In a coup for the North Harbour Open, which starts at the North Harbour Badminton Centre tonight, Richard Purser will partner dual international Phil Horne in one of the more interesting combinations in the men's doubles.
A veteran of four Commonwealth Games and the winner of a record 33 New Zealand senior titles, including nine singles, Purser has returned from Austria where he has been running summer training camps for the past 14 years.
Horne, 43, who played test and one-day cricket for New Zealand, was a member of North Harbour's winning Wisden Cup team last year and plays representative badminton in the masters grade.
Except for Sara Runesten Petersen, Geoff Bellingham, John Gordon and Daniel Shirley, who are in Birmingham for the world championships, New Zealand's best players will be in action.
John Moody (North Harbour) and Li Xu (Waitemata) head the singles seedings.
The top seeds in the women's doubles are Auckland's Nicole Gordon (silver medallist with Runesten Petersen at last year's Commonwealth Games) and Xu. Andrew Halliday and Craig Cooper (Auckland) head the men's seedings.
The tournament starts at 5pm today, and the finals are from noon on Sunday.
Badminton: Old master returns to centre stage
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