The Oceania Tour was first launched in 2019, an initiative is linked to the Badminton Oceania Player Development programme, which is supported by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
With an aim to encourage players to support Oceania events and provide the highest performing players with additional support to enable them to attend international tournaments or training camps, the tour awards prize money to those who accumulate the highest amount of World Ranking points from the eligible tournament that take place across Oceania.
In 2019, the Oceania Tour launched with immense success, with players and pairs from Australia claiming all the prizes across the year. However, the disruption to global badminton across 2020 and 2021 has resulted in the cancellation of the Oceania Tour since then.
Following the announcement of the return of the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2022 (Individual Championships) – which occurred from April 28 to May 1 – four Grade Three tournaments, which will accompany the CROWN Group Australia Open and New Zealand Open in the last quarter of 2022, were also announced.
The Oceania Tour 2022 will comprise of the following seven tournaments:
| Tournament | Date | Grade |
| VICTOR Oceania Championships 2022 | 28 April – 1 May | International Challenge |
| 2022 Sydney International | 5-9 October | International Series |
| 2022 Bendigo International | 12-16 October | International Challenge |
| North Harbour International 2022 | 19-23 October | International Challenge |
| CROWN Group Australian Badminton Open | 15-20 November | HSBC BWF World Tour 300 |
| New Zealand Open | 22-27 November | HSBC BWF World Tour 300 |
| Manawatu International | 1-4 December | International Series |
Players must meet BWF criteria to play in the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2022 to be eligible to be a part of the Oceania Tour 2022. The points calculations for the tour will be directly from the BWF World Ranking system in all five disciplines (MS, WS, MD, WD, XD) from the events listed above. Points for doubles are calculated per pair as per the BWF World Ranking List and both players in a doubles pair must meet the eligibility criteria.
Following the last event – the Manawatu International – and after world ranking points have been calculated, the winner of each event will be announced (no later than 8 December, 2022). The men’s and women’s singles winners will receive up to $2,000 (NZD) each, while the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles pairs will receive up to $3,500 (NZD) per pair.
“With two years of no international tournaments being played in the region, it has been a challenging time for players as they have had to pivot into new ways of remaining engaged, motivated and connected with their development programmes with no tournaments to keep them challenged.
“We are excited to bring back international badminton to the region, starting with the VICTOR Oceania Championships in Melbourne, Australia, and hope the Oceania Tour will motivate players to soak up the opportunities across Oceania and beyond as the world begins to open,” said Badminton Oceania Secretary General and CEO, Julie Carrel.
The Tour rankings and more information about the tour (including 2019 winners) will be available to view on the Oceania Tour webpage.
Article adapted from the Badminton Oceania website.