Top players in champs?

Press, 26 April 1983, Page 41

Top players in champs?

The Canterbury badminton I championships in August could I boast a field including some of ] the country’s leading players. < For the 1983 season, the 1 Canterbury tournament is one of six which makes up the i grand prix circuit. To be elig- i ible for a portion of the prize < money, the top players must 1 compete in at least five of six ; stipulated events. i The other five are the North I Shore championships on May i 14-15; the Manawatu open on ' July 15-16; the North Island championships at Counties on ] August 20-21; the South Island ; tournament at Dunedin a week > later and the national eham- i pionships in Invercargill from i August 30 to September 3. i Of these, the national i

tournament is compulsory and the players must also take part in one of the island championships to be eligible for prize money. With the Canterbury tournament being held on the same week-end as the North Island championships, it is probable that some of the leading players might opt to compete in Christchurch, then at Otago the week after before ending a mini-South Island tour at Invercargill. In past seasons it has been possible for the best players, all of whom come from the Auckland region, to contest enough tournaments with the minimum possible travel required to pick up a good share of the prize money.

“This year, the concept is to force players to play one or two tournaments outside their district,” said the president of the New Zealand Badminton Federation, Mr Russ Sadler. Prize money will be the same as it was for the 1982 season. Graeme Robson, the top-ranked man in the country, finished first in the grand prix last year and picked up $750. Second prize will again be $5OO, with the third-place-getter receiving $4OO. Last winter’s women’s winner was Toni Whittaker, another Aucklander, who got $5OO. Second prize will be $3OO and third will again be worth $250.