The BARFOOT & THOMPSON New Zealand Open 2018 kicked off today in the North Shore Events Centre, Auckland.
There has been much hype around this year’s event as Chinese legend Lin Dan enters for the first time.
Some European players have also travelled around the world to compete in this year’s event, which is part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300.
In today’s qualifying openers, European players fought bravely with mixed success on court.
Luxembourg’s Robert Mann went down in two games 21-12, 21-14 against Australia’s Anthony Joe.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Jakob Lindqvist teamed up with New Zealand’s own Christopher Steeghs to overcome compatriots Adam Jeffrey and Ryan Tong, both from New Zealand in two straight games 21-14, 21-10. The mixed nationality pair will continue to fight in the main draw tomorrow when they take on Pakin Kuna-Anuvit and Natthapat Trinkajee from Thailand at 2.40pm, local time.
Keep up to date with the latest results by clicking
here.