PERU INT’L 2011 – North Americans on top

Canada and the USA clinched 4 out of the 5 possible gold medals in the XVI PERU INTERNATIONAL 2011 BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS held in Lima, Peru this weekend. One of the last tournaments before the kick-off of the London qualifying period – but a crucial one for players to get points in order to make it to the main draws of the upcoming events – especially much sought-after spots in the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Gold and Super Series events.

By Raphael Sachetat. Photos (live): rights reserved.

What might have been the main surprise was the victory of unseeded Canadians Michelle Li and Grace Gao (photo) in the women’s doubles, but a recent win in the Banu Invest Internationals in Romania was a clear hint that the two partners are on for more than a second knife role. They beat the Wang siblings in the final, in three games.

Rena Wang had beaten Michelle Li earlier in the semi-final of the women’s singles and the US shuttler went on to clinch her first major title, beating top seed Nicole Grether in the final. The German-born shuttler playing under a Canadian flag had to withdraw in the third game when trailing 9-17.

As expected, former World Champions Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan (photo) -, clearly seeking a qualification spot for London’s Olympics – scooped the title in men’s doubles with ease in straight games over Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng of Canada, while another Indonesian former World Champion, Halim Ho Haryanto had to settle for silver in the mixed doubles with Eva Lee, beaten by top seeds Toby Ng and Grace Gao.

Last but not least, the only title not heading as far as North America went to Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, who edged out top seed Michael Lahnsteiner from Austria in three games – the win of the first one 23-21 was probably a key to Cordon.

Final results HERE