Good standard in promotional tournament

About 30 teams battled it out in the South Island Badminton Tournament, organised by the Aorangi Badminton Social Club.

The event, which aims to promote the development of badminton in the region, and was held at the Southern Trust Events Centre on Sunday.

Jack Sun, who runs a dairy in Timaru, bagged the runner-up medal in the elite division with team-mate and event organiser Jino Thomas, who said the event was a real success compared to the last one in October 2020.

‘‘The previous tournament wasn’t as big as this one, and we had teams come in from Christchurch, Dunedin, Oamaru and Ashburton apart from Timaru,’’ Sun said.

‘‘In the first tournament, it was mostly Indian people and a few Chinese people who took part, but this time we have seen local Kiwis taking part too, which is really encouraging as the real motive behind the tournament is to get as many people in the community to play badminton and have fun.’’

Sun, who has been part of the social badminton club since 2017, acknowledged Thomas for starting the club, where badminton enthusiasts take to the courts regularly every Friday evening at the Washdyke Community Hall and Sports Centre.

Another participant Matt Cameron who paired up with his son Josh, in the doubles’ competition, was all praise for the competitive level of the tournament.

‘‘The quality was very good amongst the players, and it was well run and there was good representation of teams from all around the South Island,’’ Cameron said.

‘‘We want more people to take up badminton in this community and that is what we are trying to achieve.’’

Winners: Elite division, Ajesh Jose and Martin Thomas (Christchurch).

Women’s division, Allison Collister and Gillian Ramsay (Timaru)