The VICTOR Oceania Championships 2025, held from February 3 to 16 at the Badminton North Harbour Centre in Auckland, showcased some of the best badminton talent in the region. This year’s championships were particularly notable for having the highest number of individual entries in history, highlighting the growing popularity of badminton in Oceania.
Mixed Team Event
Australia emerged victorious for their seventh consecutive Oceania Open Mixed Team Championship title. Keeping a clean sheet, the Falcons went undefeated across every match in the tournament. Their title win secured them a place at the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2025, also known as the BWF World Mixed Team Championships. As the sole representatives from Oceania, they will compete against the best in the world in Xiamen, China beginning April 29.
The young New Zealand team took second, while Tahiti rounded out the podium after a strong showing against Fiji.
Individual Events
The individual events saw intense competition and remarkable displays of skill.
In the mixed doubles competition, the Trans-Tasman duo of Vincent Tao (NZL) and Gronya Somerville (AUS) upset number one seeds Edward Lau and Shaunna Li (NZL) in a thrilling three game contest (21-18, 14-21, 21-18).
For the men’s doubles, the Kiwi team of Adam Jeffrey and Dylan Soedjasa (NZL) dominated from the start to comfortably take the title over their Australian opponents, Huaidong Tang and Frederick Zhao (21-13, 21-10).
Gronya Somerville returned to the court with her women’s doubles partner Angela Yu (AUS) to play compatriots Mimi Ngo and Maureen Clarissa Wijaya (AUS). The teen duo of Ngo and Wijaya stayed competitive, however, the experience of the two Olympians proved too much, with Somerville and Yu coming away with the gold medal (21-10, 21-12).
In the most thrilling match of the day, Olympian Tiffany Ho (AUS) faced runner-up from the mixed doubles competition, Shaunna Li (NZL). With long rallies, high intensity, and constant momentum, the two traded blows for over an hour in the hunt for the women’s singles title. Eventually, it was the Kiwi’s tactical prowess that led her to a third game win to secure the title on her homecourt (23-25, 21-10, 21-18).
Following the mixed doubles, men’s number one seed, Edward Lau fell ill and retired from the competition. This meant the men’s singles final was a walkover and Australia’s Jack Yu was awarded the title.
For an in-depth recap of the tournament, click here.