Change for badminton up format

Press, 16 April 1984, Page 28

Change for badminton up format

Canterbury’s top badminton team will now compete in the revised Wisden Cup national tournament in Hamilton in June without having to go through an elimination round. The old format for the Cup had five North Island teams, North Shore, Auckland, Waitemata, Waikato and Wellington, automatically included with Canterbury No. 1 and No. 2, Otago and Southland being forced to play off for the sixth spot. The unfairness of this system can be seen by a glance at last year’s final placings at the Wisden Cup. Canterbury finished third behind Auckland and North Shore.

The Canterbury Badminton Association president, Eion Kirkland, was pleased that the New Zealand Federation has taken steps to right its own earlier error.

“The draw is as it should have been,” he said. “Our Division I team should never have been placed in the position of having to go through a play-off.” The other change is that Southland has been placed in Zone B of the Division I contest, to be held in Wanganui, also over Queen’s Birthday week-end. The other five teams are Counties, Hutt Valley, Wanganui, Auckland No. 2 and Taranaki. Otago and Canterbury’s No. 2 team have been put in the South Island Division II competition, at Blenheim on June 9-10, along with Marlborough and Canterbury No. 3. The revised draw is very hard on Otago. As it stands, Otago has no chance of qualifying for the top six until 1987, even if it wins all its grades and subsequent promotion in the next three winters.