2023 Waitemata Open
2023 Waitemata Open Results
The 2023 Waitemata Open was played on the 29th and 30th of July 2023
This was the largest Waitemata Open ever with almost 50 more entries that last year. The 45 local Waitemata players entered showed great support from our own Association
The highlight of the weekend was Sundays Open Men’s Top 8. The Top 8 was a new concept organised by Andrew for this years tournament, and very similar to the format of the recent North Island champs. This allows the best players to play more matches against other high-level players.Â
Showing great dedication to our club Alfred Dela-Pena only arrived back in NZ 11:30am Sunday morning, but drove straight to Waitemata stadium to compete.Â
Down 3-1 and 10-8 in the final Alfred Dela Pena WT fought back to win against a determined Max Henderson (NS) before a loud and supportive crowd who stayed back for the final. The game was live streamed, high quality and well received from all over New Zealand. The other semi-finalists were August Xiao and Yuhan Gao.
 The Women’s top 8 was won by Liting Guo (WT coach) who beat Jocelyn Lam. The other semi-finalists were Auroro Lim and Barb Shepp
The Open Men’s doubles was won by Dean Shu and Clark Sun, and the Women’s double was won by our own Sarah Her-Lee (WT) and her partner Jocelyn Lam
And the Open Mixed won by more of our Waitemata coaches Yuhan Gao and Liting Guo
B grade singles was won by Clark Sun (A) with Conrad Ang (WT) second. Both are part of our regular Junior coaching team.Â
C grade won by Honggang Zhang (A) with Hyrum Sunnex (WK) second
D Grade won by Paul Skiffington (WT) over Paul Kyle (WK)
Graded doubles won by Barb Shepp and Hyrum Sunnex (WK)
The Under 15s boys was won by August Xiao beating Ken Chin
The Under 15 girls was won by Anya Chen who beat Jocelyn Lam
The Under 13’s Boys was won by August Xiao beating Ken Chin
The Under 13 girls was won by Anya Chen who beat Katie Chen
The Under 11 Boys was won by Lai Wei who beat George Dong
And the Under 11 Girls was won by Katie Chen who beat Gloria Fan
I want to Congratulate Andrew Palmer who ran the tournament all day Sat and Sun, and equally thank other parents, coaches and helpers like Wing Poon and family and Shaun Chun and his wife who provided food and helped run Sunday with Andrew. And other helpers like Tim Li and Cheen Ang , table runners, and to anyone we have missed Also a big thanks to other volunteers like Denise Kent & Carol Fields who came and cleaned the rubbish bins and toilets
Our juniors received great support from our coaches Alfred, Sarah & Conrad and others. And especially our juniors who stayed on to umpire matches and help out
All and all a busy and successful weekend that showcased how friendly our club is. Well done everyone!
Rodney Bygrave
Waitemata Secretary
Open Mens Singles
1st Alfred Dela-Peña
2nd Max Henderson
3rd= Yuhan Gao
3rd= August Xiao
Open Womens Singles
1st Liting Guo
2nd Jocelyn Lam
Open Mens Doubles
1st Dean Shu+Clark Sun
2nd Max Henderson+Jeffrey Guo
Open Womens Doubles
1st Sarah Her-Lee+Jocelyn Lam
2nd Liting Guo+Flanny Xue
Open Mixed Doubles
1st Yuhan Gao+Liting Guo
2nd Romy Issar+Yumin Lin
B Grade Singles
1st Clark Sun
2nd Conrad Ang
C grade Singles
1st Honggang Zhang
2nd Hyrum Sunnex
D grade Singles
1st Paul Skiffington
2nd Paul D Kyle
Grade Doubles (any grade)
1st Barb Shepp+Hyrum Sunnex
2nd Romy Issar+Paul D Kyle
u11boys
1st Lai Wei
2nd George Dong
u11girls
1st Katie Chen
2nd Gloria Fan
u11 doubles
1st George Dong+Lai Wei
2nd Dao Wei+Katie Chen
u13 girls
1st Anya Chen
2nd Katie Chen
u13boys
1st August Xiao
2nd Ken Chin
u15girls
1st Anya Chen
2nd Jocelyn Lam
u15boys
1st August Xiao
2nd Ken Chin
u15 Junior Doubles
1st August Xiao+Ken Chin
2nd Edmond Haofang Jia+Zhanyi Xiong