Gronya Somerville Explained

Gronya Somerville
Country:Australia
Birth Date:1995 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Carlton, Melbourne, Australia
Height:1.71 m[1]
Weight:62 kg
Handedness:Right
Event:Women's & mixed doubles
Highest Ranking:18 (WD with Setyana Mapasa, 2 March 2017)
43 (XD with Kenneth Choo, 31 October 2023)
51 (XD with Simon Leung, 17 March 2020)
Current Ranking:56 (WD with Kaitlyn Ea)
44 (XD with Kenneth Choo)
Date Of Current Ranking:16 April 2024
Bwf Id:DC409D1C-1A6C-45FD-B357-257A67513DDA

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.

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]

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

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

Mixed doubles

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

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

YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Canada Open Setyana Mapasa Heather Olver
Lauren Smith
21–15, 21–16 Winner
2016Dutch Open Setyana Mapasa Gabriela Stoeva
Stefani Stoeva
17–21, 21–17, 21–16 Winner

BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

BWF Grand Prix tournament

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

Women's doubles

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

Mixed doubles

YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2013Auckland International Raymond Tam Ross Smith
Renuga Veeran
16–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2015Waikato International Matthew Chau Sawan Serasinghe
Setyana Mapasa
13–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2015Turkey International Matthew Chau Robert Mateusiak
Nadieżda Zięba
12–21, 13–21 Runner-up
2019Waikato International Simon Leung Hiroki Midorikawa
Natsu Saito
15–21, 13–21 Runner-up
2023Dutch International Kenneth Choo Brandon Yap
Annie Lado
21–18, 23–21 Winner
2023Mongolia International Kenneth Choo Tanakorn Meechai
Fungfa Korpthammakit
22–20, 21–17 Winner
2023Bendigo International Kenneth Choo Chen Sheng-fa
Lin Jhih-yun
21–12, 14–21, 11–21 Runner-up
2023Sydney International Kenneth Choo Chen Sheng-fa
Lin Jhih-yun
18–21, 11–21 Runner-up
2024Uganda International Kenneth Choo Sathish Kumar Karunakaran
Aadya Variyath
20–22, 21–18, 19–21 Runner-up

BWF International Challenge tournament

BWF International Series tournament

BWF Future Series tournament

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Player Info: Gronya Somerville . BadmintonLink . 2016-08-03. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160816193602/http://www.badmintonlink.com/Player-Info/322/Gronya_Somerville . 2016-08-16.
  2. Web site: Players: Gronya Somerville . . 2017-02-17.
  3. Web site: Gronya Somerville: Australian Following in Footsteps of Badminton Ace Lin Dan. Women of China . 2015-05-20. Kiki . Liu . https://web.archive.org/web/20160812051302/http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/news/newsmakers/1505/1903-1.htm . 2016-08-12.
  4. News: East Brunswick badminton player Gronya Somerville chasing her Olympic dream . Andrew . Rogers . 2016-04-10. Moreland Leader. . 2017-03-25.
  5. News: 'Next badminton icon': Australia's Gronya Somerville to take on world's best . The North West Star . Megan . Levy . 2016-05-05. 2017-03-25.
  6. Web site: Gronya Somerville: Courting success in sport and in life . Australia Plus. 2017-03-25.
  7. Web site: Commonwealth Games Team Announced . . 2017-03-25 . 27 February 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150227153846/http://www.badminton.org.au/news/item/310-commonwealth-games-team-announced . dead .
  8. News: Canada Open 2016 Finals – 1 takes 3rd, 3 take 1st . Badzine . 2017-03-25.
  9. Web site: Mapasa and Somerville Win Second GP Title at Dutch Open . . 2017-03-25 . 26 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170326050629/http://www.badminton.org.au/news/item/481-mapasa-and-somerville-win-second-gp-title-at-dutch-open . dead .
  10. News: New Zealand, Australia Dominate Finals. Badminton Oceania. 2017-02-17. 18 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170218063625/http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-1065-0-0-0&sID=13337&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=52584402. dead.
  11. Web site: Somerville Gronya . Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games . 2021-07-29. live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210729052552/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/badminton/athlete-profile-n1483970-somerville-gronya.htm . 2021-07-29.
  12. Web site: Alleyne . Gayle . BWF Launches New Events Structure . . 19 March 2017 . 29 November 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201164159/http://bwfbadminton.com/news-single/2017/03/19/bwf-launches-new-event-structure/ . 1 December 2017.
  13. Web site: Sukumar . Dev . Action-Packed Season Ahead! . Badminton World Federation . 10 January 2018 . 15 January 2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180113162925/http://bwfworldtour.com/news-single/2018/01/10/action-packed-season-ahead/ . 13 January 2018.