Gronya Somerville

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Gronya Somerville
Personal information
CountryAustralia
Born (1995-05-10) 10 May 1995 (age 28)
Carlton, Melbourne, Australia
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Weight62 kg (137 lb)
HandednessRight
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking18 (WD with Setyana Mapasa, 2 March 2017)
43 (XD with Kenneth Choo, 31 October 2023)
51 (XD with Simon Leung, 17 March 2020)
Current ranking65 (WD with Kaitlyn Ea)
44 (XD with Kenneth Choo) (2 January 2024)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Australia
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Ballarat Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2015 North Harbour Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Nouméa Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Hamilton Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Melbourne Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Melbourne Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2020 Ballarat Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2020 Ballarat Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2022 Melbourne Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Auckland Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2024 Geelong Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2016 Papeete Women's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Nouméa Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne Women's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2024 Geelong Women's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Ballarat Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Ballarat Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 North Harbour Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Auckland Women's doubles
Oceania Mixed Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Ballarat Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Ballarat Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Auckland Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Melbourne Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Auckland Mixed team
Oceania Women's Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Ballarat Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Auckland Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Hamilton Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2020 Ballarat Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Geelong Women's team
BWF profile

Gronya Somerville (born 10 May 1995) is an Australian badminton player specializing in doubles.[2] She has won nine Oceania Championships titles, six in the women's doubles and three in the mixed doubles.

Somerville partnered with Riky Widianto in Australian Embassy Jakarta in 2016

Personal life

Somerville, born to an Australian mother of Anglo-Celtic origin and a Chinese father, became famous when it was revealed that she is the descendant of a prominent Qing dynasty political reformer, Kang Youwei.[3] She is studying exercise science at Victoria University.[4][when?]

Career

Somerville's skills were discovered during a badminton talent identification program which she attended after receiving a flyer from her primary school PE teacher when she was about 12 or 13.[5][6] Born in Melbourne in 1995, Somerville first captured the media's attention as a young player in 2012 at the Uber Cup in central China's Hubei Province.[3]

She won gold medals at the 2014 Oceania Badminton Championships in women's doubles and mixed team events. Her current partners are Setyana Mapasa in women's doubles and Simon Leung in mixed doubles. She represented her country at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.[7] Together with Mapasa, they managed to win Australia's first ever Grand Prix title in 2016, after winning the Canada Open.[8] They also won the Dutch Open in the same year.[9] In 2017, she and Mapasa won the women's doubles title at the Oceania Championships, and a silver in the mixed doubles event partnered with Joel Findlay.[10]

She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's and mixed doubles but was eliminated in the group stage in both events.[11]

Achievements

Oceania Championships

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Ken Kay Badminton Hall,
Ballarat, Australia
Australia Jacqueline Guan Australia Jacinta Joe
Australia Louisa Ma
21–14, 21–17 Gold Gold
2015 X-TRM North Harbour Badminton Centre,
Auckland, New Zealand
Australia Leanne Choo Australia Talia Saunders
Australia Jennifer Tam
21–14, 21–11 Gold Gold
2016 Punaauia University Hall,
Papeete, Tahiti
Australia Melinda Sun Australia Tiffany Ho
Australia Jennifer Tam
17–21, 21–19, 20–22 Silver Silver
2017 Salle Anewy,
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Australia Setyana Mapasa Australia Tiffany Ho
Australia Joy Lai
16–21, 21–18, 21–14 Gold Gold
2018 Eastlink Badminton Stadium,
Hamilton, New Zealand
Australia Setyana Mapasa Australia Leanne Choo
Australia Renuga Veeran
21–14, 22–20 Gold Gold
2019 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
Australia Setyana Mapasa Australia Yingzi Jiang
Australia Louisa Ma
21–10, 21–9 Gold Gold
2020 Ken Kay Badminton Stadium,
Ballarat, Australia
Australia Setyana Mapasa New Zealand Sally Fu
New Zealand Alyssa Tagle
21–9, 21–10 Gold Gold
2022 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
Australia Kaitlyn Ea Australia Joyce Choong
Australia Sylvina Kurniawan
19–21, 15–21 Silver Silver
2023 Auckland Badminton Stadium,
Auckland, New Zealand
Australia Joyce Choong Australia Sylvina Kurniawan
Australia Setyana Mapasa
19–21, 11–21 Bronze Bronze
2024 Leisuretime Sports Precinct,
Geelong, Australia
Australia Kaitlyn Ea Australia Setyana Mapasa
Australia Angela Yu
18–21, 11–21 Silver Silver

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2012 Ken Kay Badminton Hall,
Ballarat, Australia
Australia Ross Smith Australia Glenn Warfe
Australia Leanne Choo
11–21, 17–21 Bronze Bronze
2014 Ken Kay Badminton Hall,
Ballarat, Australia
Australia Raymond Tam New Zealand Oliver Leydon-Davis
New Zealand Susannah Leydon-Davis
19–21, 19–21 Bronze Bronze
2015 X-TRM North Harbour Badminton Centre,
Auckland, New Zealand
Australia Matthew Chau New Zealand Oliver Leydon-Davis
New Zealand Danielle Tahuri
15–21, 21–19, 14–21 Bronze Bronze
2017 Salle Anewy,
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Australia Joel Findlay Australia Sawan Serasinghe
Australia Setyana Mapasa
19–21, 9–21 Silver Silver
2019 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
Australia Simon Leung Australia Sawan Serasinghe
Australia Khoo Lee Yen
21–18, 21–15 Gold Gold
2020 Ken Kay Badminton Stadium,
Ballarat, Australia
Australia Simon Leung Australia Pham Tran Hoang
Australia Sylvina Kurniawan
21–12, 21–8 Gold Gold
2022 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
Australia Kenneth Choo New Zealand Oliver Leydon-Davis
New Zealand Anona Pak
21–18, 19–21, 21–12 Gold Gold
2023 Auckland Badminton Stadium,
Auckland, New Zealand
Australia Kenneth Choo Australia Lim Ming Chuen
Australia Sylvina Kurniawan
21–12, 21–16 Gold Gold
2024 Leisuretime Sports Precinct,
Geelong, Australia
Australia Kenneth Choo New Zealand Edward Lau
New Zealand Shaunna Li
21–11, 25–27, 21–14 Gold Gold

BWF World Tour (1 title)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[12] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[13]

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Canada Open Super 100 Australia Setyana Mapasa South Korea Chang Ye-na
South Korea Kim Hye-rin
21–16, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Canada Open Australia Setyana Mapasa England Heather Olver
England Lauren Smith
21–15, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Dutch Open Australia Setyana Mapasa Bulgaria Gabriela Stoeva
Bulgaria Stefani Stoeva
17–21, 21–17, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (9 titles, 14 runners-up)

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Auckland International Australia Leanne Choo Chinese Taipei Chang Ching-hui
Chinese Taipei Chang Hsin-tien
11–6, 8–11, 10–11, 9–11 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Waikato International Australia Setyana Mapasa Australia Ruwindi Serasinghe
Australia Alice Wu
21–13, 21–10 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Auckland International Australia Setyana Mapasa Chinese Taipei Pan Tzu-chin
Chinese Taipei Tsai Hsin-yu
21–9, 21–5 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Maribyrnong International Australia Setyana Mapasa Australia Chen Hsuan-yu
Chinese Taipei Shu Yu-lin
20–22, 17–21, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Sydney International Australia Setyana Mapasa Thailand Jongkolphan Kititharakul
Thailand Rawinda Prajongjai
13–21, 5–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Norwegian International Australia Setyana Mapasa Denmark Amanda Madsen
Denmark Isabella Nielsen
21–5, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Italian International Australia Setyana Mapasa Bulgaria Gabriela Stoeva
Bulgaria Stefani Stoeva
19–21, 21–18, 6–13 retired 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2016 Brazil International Australia Setyana Mapasa Japan Chisato Hoshi
Japan Naru Shinoya
13–21, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2017 Nouméa International Australia Setyana Mapasa Australia Tiffany Ho
Australia Joy Lai
21–11, 21–8 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 South Australia International Australia Setyana Mapasa Japan Rin Iwanaga
Japan Kie Nakanishi
15–21, 21–19, 9–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2019 Nepal International Australia Setyana Mapasa India K. Maneesha
India Rutaparna Panda
21–10, 18–21, 21–11 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Yonex / K&D Graphics International Australia Setyana Mapasa Canada Rachel Honderich
Canada Kristen Tsai
14–21, 21–9, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2021 Irish Open Australia Chen Hsuan-yu Netherlands Debora Jille
Netherlands Cheryl Seinen
21–15, 14–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2022 North Harbour International Australia Chen Hsuan-yu Chinese Taipei Sung Shuo-yun
Chinese Taipei Yu Chien-hui
19–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2013 Auckland International Australia Raymond Tam Australia Ross Smith
Australia Renuga Veeran
16–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Waikato International Australia Matthew Chau Australia Sawan Serasinghe
Australia Setyana Mapasa
13–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2015 Turkey International Australia Matthew Chau Poland Robert Mateusiak
Poland Nadieżda Zięba
12–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2019 Waikato International Australia Simon Leung Japan Hiroki Midorikawa
Japan Natsu Saito
15–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2023 Dutch International Australia Kenneth Choo England Brandon Yap
England Annie Lado
21–18, 23–21 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2023 Mongolia International Australia Kenneth Choo Thailand Tanakorn Meechai
Thailand Fungfa Korpthammakit
22–20, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2023 Bendigo International Australia Kenneth Choo Chinese Taipei Chen Sheng-fa
Chinese Taipei Lin Jhih-yun
21–12, 14–21, 11–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2023 Sydney International Australia Kenneth Choo Chinese Taipei Chen Sheng-fa
Chinese Taipei Lin Jhih-yun
18–21, 11–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2024 Uganda International Australia Kenneth Choo India Sathish Kumar Karunakaran
India Aadya Variyath
20–22, 21–18, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References

  1. ^ "Player Info: Gronya Somerville". BadmintonLink. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Players: Gronya Somerville". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b Liu, Kiki, ed. (20 May 2015). "Gronya Somerville: Australian Following in Footsteps of Badminton Ace Lin Dan". Women of China. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016.
  4. ^ Rogers, Andrew (10 April 2016). "East Brunswick badminton player Gronya Somerville chasing her Olympic dream". Moreland Leader. Retrieved 25 March 2017 – via Herald Sun.
  5. ^ Levy, Megan (5 May 2016). "'Next badminton icon': Australia's Gronya Somerville to take on world's best". The North West Star. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Gronya Somerville: Courting success in sport and in life". Australia Plus. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Commonwealth Games Team Announced". Badminton Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Canada Open 2016 Finals – 1 takes 3rd, 3 take 1st". Badzine. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Mapasa and Somerville Win Second GP Title at Dutch Open". Badminton Australia. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  10. ^ "New Zealand, Australia Dominate Finals". Badminton Oceania. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  11. ^ "Somerville Gronya". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  12. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  13. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.

External links