VICTOR Oceania Junior Champs – Day 1 Recap

Article from Badminton Oceania (badmintonoceania.org)

With glory on the line, Oceania’s top junior talent put their best foot forward on the court on day 1 of the VICTOR Oceania Junior Championships 2025.

While most results went as expected, one surprise did shake things up, adding an extra layer of excitement to an already intense tournament. From the first serve to the final point, every player brought their best, refusing to hold back. The battle for the title is clearly underway, and the level of play shows that no one is taking this lightly.

No Major Stumbles for the Front-Runners

In the mens’ singles draws, the top seeds advanced confidently through the rounds. Their dominance was evident in straight-game victories and composed performances under pressure. However, the tournament wasn’t without its drama—an early-round upset saw Australia’s Wey Shawn Ng knock out Northern Marianas’ Marlon Bautista (6th seed) in a 21-10, 21-7 showdown, briefly shaking up the draw.

The doubles events delivered some of the most thrilling matches of the tournament. Australia and New Zealand reaffirmed their strength in the discipline, with several of their pairs reaching the next round. Raphael Deloy and Lezhi Zhu (NZL) showed why they are the number one seed in the men’s doubles, with a strong 21-3, 21-10 result against Guam’s Yu Xuan Xia and Allan Zeng.

TAHITI VS NORTHERN MARIANAS DOUBLES THRILLER

A crowd quickly formed on Court 1 this afternoon, as men’s doubles number three seeds Marlon Bautista and Dave Bryan Odicta (NMP) took on Tahiti’s Matt Chagnot and Mike Mi You. The Northern Marianas duo were off to a strong start and snuck away with a first game win 21-19. Going into the second game, Chagnot and Mi You refocused and clawed their way back to a game win. In the deciding game, it was the hometown pair that took the lead into the break. However, the Tahiti partners regrouped with sharper net play and aggressive smashes to even the score. This momentum seemed to carry them through, and Chagnot and Mi You took the final game to win the match (19-21, 21-15, 21-18) in just over 40 minutes.