The New Zealand Badminton Open was held in Auckland 30 April – 5 May 2019. Two-time Olympic, five-time World Champion Lin Dan of China was there to defend his 2018 New Zealand title. We were there as first time sponsors.
Left to right: Abhinav Manota, NZ number 1 player; Andrew Harvey, Fiordland Lobster; Ian Willans, NZ Badminton President and Fiordland Lobster shareholder.
Lin Dan overcame New Zealand’s number one player and went on to face the 2019 top seed and world number 7 Anthony Ginting of Indonesia in the quarterfinals, in probably the greatest match ever played in New Zealand. He won this match too but bowed out in the semifinals the next day.
Li Xuerui of China in red, in the Women’s Singles Final. Wild Legend logo on boards in the foreground. — Andrew Harvey
China was represented in the Women’s Singles Final by Li Xuerui, who played well before eventually conceding to 17-year-old Se Young AN of Korea.
Badminton is hugely popular in China and elsewhere in Asia, and the Auckland Asian community was out in force, chanting and cheering for their players at every point played. It’s a fast-paced game and, with the din of the crowd filling the stadium, exciting to watch.
The tournament was televised live on Sky Sport with our Wild Legend 30 second promotional video playing several times there and to an estimated audience of over 80 million in China.
Behind the scenes in the players’ lounge. — Andrew Harvey
Wild Legend video playing in the entrance hall. — Andrew Harvey
Wild Legend was proud to be a sponsor of the New Zealand Badminton Open tournament.