Strong field for badminton

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 16

Strong field for badminton

The field for the annual Anzac badminton tournament at the Skellerup Hall, starting tomorrow with the finals on Wednesday, is the strongest that has been mustered for some time. The main reason for that is the coaching clinic, which has been held in the hall over the week-end for the leading players in the South Island. A team to tour the North Island next month will be named at the conclusion of the clinic.

As a result, Nigel and Peter Skelt from Southland, are in the seedings, at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the men’s singles. The four seeds for the women’s singles are all ranked among the top 10 in New Zealand.

What is interesting, however, is that Colleen Hellyer, who is ranked eighth, above both Diane Erikson and Jane Clarke, has been seeded fourth behind that pair and Alison Ross, the top seed. The seedings for the tournament are:—

Men’s singles: N. Skelt 1, P. Skelt 2, P. Gulasekharam 3, G. Sercombe 4.

Women’s singles: A. Ross 1, D. Erikson 2, J. Clarke 3, C. Hellyer 4. Men’s doubles: P. Skelt and M. Lindsay (Southland) 1, N. Skelt and I. Pottinger (Southland) 2, A. Duckmanton and Sercombe 3, S. Tetai and C. Crosweller 4. Women’s doubles: Miss Clarke and Miss Ross 1, Miss Erikson and R. Askew 2. Mixed doubles: N. Skelt and Miss Clarke I, P. Skelt and Miss Ross 2, Lindsay and Miss Erikson 3, Tetai and Miss Hellyer 4.