Badminton Oceania and Badminton Victoria are delighted to announce that the VICTOR Oceania Para Badminton Championships 2022 will be taking place at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 July, 2022.
The Continental Para Badminton Championships last took place in 2020 in Ballarat, alongside the able-bodied Championships. Following the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic, neither tournament has been able to take place since.
However, with the Australian government easing restrictions into the country, Badminton Oceania – in partnership with Badminton Victoria – are seizing the opportunity to stage the third Para badminton Continental Championships which, under the new BWF Para Badminton tournament structure, will become a Grade 3 tournament.
Building on the success of 2020 – which saw Papua New Guinea enter their first ever team into any international badminton tournament – it is estimated that 50 players from across the continent will compete in the 2022 edition. All classifications will be included in the tournament:
- Wheelchair 1 (WH 1)
- Wheelchair 2 (WH 2)
- Standing Lower (SL 3)
- Standing Lower (SL 4)
- Standing Upper (SU 5)
- Short Stature (SH 6)
Moreover, the Badminton World Federation will also be running a National Level 1 Classifier training course alongside the tournament, to upskill the local workforce as Para badminton continues to see growth across the region and internationally.
“I would like to thank TJ Weistra (Executive General Manager at Badminton Victoria) for his assistance in securing a date and venue for this important tournament on our calendar. We worked hard to try and align these Championships with an international tournament in the region. While we were not able to make this happen, we still remain committed to staging one in the near future.
“We hope that players involved in national Para badminton programmes across Oceania will participate in these Championships to gain experience and valuable world ranking points as they look to play in international tournaments later in the year,” said Badminton Oceania Secretary General, Julie Carrel.
Badminton Oceania will also be looking to build other activities and training opportunities around the Championships to maintain Para badminton’s momentum and presence in the region.
Article adapted from Badminton Oceania website.