One hundred players competing for a brand-new trophy on a wet and cold Tuesday is proof positive there’s strong interest in indoor badminton in east Auckland.
The inaugural tournament for the HPCSC Cup, staged by the Lloyd Elsmore Badminton Club on August 19, was the idea of the contest’s chairman, Half Moon Bay resident and businessman John Hong.
The HPCSC Cup is named after the Howick Pakuranga Community Sports Centre (HPCSC), of which the Lloyd Elsmore Badminton Club is a foundation member.
On Tuesday at the tournament which drew the 100 badminton players from across Auckland, Hong told the Times the club is fully supportive of the development plans for the HPCSC.
Being a proud east Aucklander, who has previously run for the mayoralty of Auckland, Hong wants to see an international standard multi-sports complex – “a community hub” – in east Auckland that’s comparable to others in the region’s north, west and south.
“I’m a strong advocate for the prosperity of Auckland, especially east Auckland,” says Hong, who arranged the HPCSC Cup tournament in two weeks.
He says Tuesday’s contest was a “huge success” and raised an initial $11,000 towards the HPCSC, while more monetary contributions will be collected from its upcoming Badminton Open.
Attending and watching the HPCSC Cup play was Howick Local Board deputy-chair and local elections candidate Bo Burns, the managing director of Times Media, publishers of the Eastern Times; Mike Anderson, the general manager of Pakuranga United Rugby Club (PURC); and Jono Steele, a PURC director, who was there also representing Rob Neil the HPCSC chairman.
Anderson told the Times he was impressed with the turnout of players for Tuesday’s competition, which saw each player contest six games throughout the day.
“Events such as this are about creating a strong connection with our Asian badminton community,” Anderson says.
Both he and Hong want to see the Lloyd Elsmore Park Badminton Club members utilising the facilities of the rugby club more often.
One of the plans Hong wants to see happen is an upgrade of the badminton club’s present well-used building.
He’d like new courts for badminton in the short term, and in the longer term the hall being converted into an indoor multi-sports arena, and a new designated badminton complex constructed next door in Lloyd Elsmore Park.
Attending also on Tuesday were tournament sponsors and badminton supporters Ray and John Chen of Brothers construction (BCG), Jack Hu of Pacific Alpacas, Raymond Hill of NZ Tea Institute, and Tom Tang of Mortgage Alliance.
- For an earlier Times’ story about the Howick Pakuranga Community Sports Centre, read: https://www.times.co.nz/news/new-sports-complex-needs-support/
