Gronya Somerville

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

Somerville partnered with Riky Widianto in Australian Embassy Jakarta in 2016

Gronya Somerville
Personal information
CountryAustralia
Born (1995-05-10) 10 May 1995
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)
51 (XD with Simon Leung 17 March 2020)
Current ranking26 (WD with Setyana Mapasa)
54 (XD Simon Leung) (10 August 2021)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Australia
Oceania Championships
2014 Ballarat Women's doubles
2015 North Harbour Women's doubles
2017 Nouméa Women's doubles
2018 Hamilton Women's doubles
2019 Melbourne Women's doubles
2019 Melbourne Mixed doubles
2020 Ballarat Women's doubles
2020 Ballarat Mixed doubles
2022 Melbourne Mixed doubles
2016 Papeete Women's doubles
2017 Nouméa Mixed doubles
2022 Melbourne Women's doubles
2012 Ballarat Mixed doubles
2014 Ballarat Mixed doubles
2015 North Harbour Mixed doubles
Oceania Mixed Team Championships
2012 Ballarat Mixed team
2014 Ballarat Mixed team
2016 Auckland Mixed team
2019 Melbourne Mixed team
Oceania Women's Team Championships
2012 Ballarat Women's team
2016 Auckland Women's team
2018 Hamilton Women's team
2020 Ballarat Women's team
BWF profile

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

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

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2012 Ken Kay Badminton Hall,
Ballarat, Australia		 Ross Smith Glenn Warfe
Leanne Choo		 11–21, 17–21 Bronze
2014 Ken Kay Badminton Hall,
Ballarat, Australia		 Raymond Tam Oliver Leydon-Davis
Susannah Leydon-Davis		 19–21, 19–21 Bronze
2015 X-TRM North Harbour Badminton Centre,
North Harbour, New Zealand		 Matthew Chau Oliver Leydon-Davis
Danielle Tahuri		 15–21, 21–19, 14–21 Bronze
2017 Salle Anewy,
Nouméa, New Caledonia		 Joel Findlay Sawan Serasinghe
Setyana Mapasa		 19–21, 9–21 Silver
2019 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia		 Simon Leung Sawan Serasinghe
Khoo Lee Yen		 21–18, 21–15 Gold
2020 Ken Kay Badminton Stadium,
Ballarat, Australia		 Simon Leung Pham Tran Hoang
Sylvina Kurniawan		 21–12, 21–8 Gold
2022 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia		 Kenneth Choo Zhe Hooi Oliver Leydon-Davis
Anona Pak		 21–18, 19–21, 21–12 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 Tours are 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 Setyana Mapasa Chang Ye-na
Kim Hye-rin		 21–16, 21–14 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 Setyana Mapasa Heather Olver
Lauren Smith		 21–15, 21–16 Winner
2016 Dutch 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 (7 titles, 10 runners-up)

Women's doubles

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

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2013 Auckland International Raymond Tam Ross Smith
Renuga Veeran		 16–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2015 Waikato International Matthew Chau Sawan Serasinghe
Setyana Mapasa		 13–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2015 Turkey International Matthew Chau Robert Mateusiak
Nadieżda Zięba		 12–21, 13–21 Runner-up
2019 Waikato International Simon Leung Hiroki Midorikawa
Natsu Saito		 15–21, 13–21 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. 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 16 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.
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