Local players should feature prominently at one of the major dates on the badminton calendar this weekend.
The annual Otago Open doubles as the South Island championships, and has attracted 65 players across five events.
The top two seeds in men’s singles are Otago players Aaryan Alexander and Yuchen (Victor) Pu.
Alexander was a semifinalist in the singles at the previous two Otago Open tournaments and would love to go at least one step further this year.
He has been playing representative badminton for Otago for 12 years, starting as an under-13 junior player, and is now in Otago’s top senior team.
Pu moved to Dunedin from China to study at the University of Otago. He is dedicated to the sport and is quickly rising through the ranks.
Other players to watch in the men’s singles draw include Otago players Jake Dickson and Josh Kellett.
The top two seeds in women’s singles are Otago representative player Lucy Thomsen, and Southland-Otago representative Claudia Smith.
In last year’s Otago Open, Thomsen was runner-up in the women’s singles, and Smith was a semifinalist.
Thomsen makes her 10th consecutive appearance at the Otago Open this year and Smith her sixth.
Another player to watch is the other semifinalist from last year, Amy Su.
All three women play representative-level badminton for Otago in the top senior team.
Men’s doubles top seeds are the Southland-Canterbury pairing of Nic Raines and Sam Loan.
Both men have extensive experience and determination and will be hard to stop.
The second seeds are the Otago-Southland pairing of Kellett and Caleb Young.
Kellett is making an impressive 11th consecutive appearance at the Otago Open, having first entered as a junior player in 2015.
The pairing are also experienced in this event, partnering each other for their seventh Otago Open since 2017.
The third and fourth seeds respectively are both from Otago: senior players Alexander and Justin Ho, and junior pairing Joseph Chen and Jayden Lu.
Women’s doubles top seeds are Otago’s Thomsen and Pingkan Polak, who have the opportunity to win a seventh Otago Open women’s doubles title in an eight-year period.
The second seeds in the women’s doubles draw are Su and Smith.
Thomsen and Kellett, who were runners-up last year, are the top mixed doubles seeds.
Second seeds are Alexander and Smith.
Play starts at the Otago Badminton Centre in St Kilda this evening, and continues all day tomorrow. — APL
