Badminton: Women keep their nerve to ensure victory over Poles

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The new-look women's doubles pairing of Rhona Robertson and Sara Runestan Petersen saved the day as New Zealand beat Poland 3-2 on the opening day of the Sudirman Cup world teams badminton championships in Spain yesterday.

After taking a 2-0 lead after the first two rubbers, New Zealand then lost two before the decider.

Dan Shirley and Runestan Petersen gave the Kiwis a winning start with their mixed doubles win over Jacek Niedzwiedski and Agnieszka Jaskula 15-7, 15-4.

Robertson then fought back from 3-6 in both sets to beat Katazyrna Krasowska 11-6, 11-6 in the singles.

Nick Hall, in for Geoff Bellingham in the men's singles, played well, but his lack of recent hard matchplay told. He went down 11-15, 9-15 to Przemyslaw Wacha.

After a strong start in the men's doubles - they reached 10-10 in the first set - Shirley and Chris Blair lost 10-15, 4-15 to Micahl Logosz and Robert Mateusiak.

However, Robertson and Runestan Petersen, in her debut tie for NZ, raced away in the women's doubles to beat Krasowska and Kamila Augustyn 15-4, 15-2.

New Zealand were to play Iceland overnight.