2 June, 2023
There was play-off drama and fantastic matches aplenty across the domestic circuit in May.
Here is a summary of the pick of the action…
Senior County Championships Play-offs
Lanarkshire and Gloucestershire sealed promotion to the second tier of the Senior County Championships after progressing through the Division 1 Play-offs.
Lanarkshire finished first and Gloucestershire second in Division One North to seal a spot in the play-offs.
Lanarkshire started with a convincing 9-2 win over Hertfordshire 2 before comfortably seeing off Suffolk 8-3.
And they finished on a high, beating already-promoted Gloucestershire 7-4 in their final game to seal the top spot in the round-robin Division 1 Play-off.
Gloucestershire had already edged past Suffolk 6-5 and beaten Hertfordshire 2 9-2.
Suffolk defeated Hertfordshire 2 7-4 to finish third in the group, though both counties will have to try and seal promotion to the Championship again next season.
The remaining fixtures in Division 2 Central were played across the weekend of May 27-28 and saw Cambridgeshire seal top spot with victories over Bedfordshire and Leicestershire 3.
Norfolk claimed second, a point further back, after beating Leicestershire 3 and Cambridgeshire 2, who occupied the bottom two spaces.
Northamptonshire beat both of the top two over the weekend to finish in third.
Promotions and relegations are currently being confirmed ahead of the 2023/24 season.
A full breakdown of the results can be found here.
Hampshire Senior Gold 2023
Ethan Rose beat Ollie Baczala in straight games to win the men’s singles at the Hampshire Senior Gold 2023, which took place across the weekend of May 13-14.
Rose recorded a 21-18 21-12 win in the final having edged past number one seed Dinuka Karunaratne 21-17 17-21 21-14 in a thrilling semi-final.
In the women’s singles, top seed Georgina Bland came out on top, recording a 21-10 21-18 win over second seed Jessica Allen.
Baczala was on the winning side in the men’s doubles, where he triumphed alongside partner Ben Jarvis.
The final saw the two top seeded pairs go head-to-head and Baczala and Jarvis came out on top against Ewen Stephen and Jacob Weekes, winning 21-13 21-19 having recorded a 21-12 21-12 win over Benjamin Horseman and Zach Sturgess in the semis.
Stephen also took the runners-up spot in the mixed doubles, in which he teamed up with Sophie Watson.
The pair took the opening game in the final against Sam Owens and Natasha Lado, who hit back to take the next two 21-19 21-17 and lift the trophy.
Watson bounced back by storming to victory in the women’s doubles alongside Kiara Henry.
Watson and Henry, seeded second, beat top seeds Annie Lado and Natasha Lado 22-20 22-20 in a closely-fought final.
A full lowdown of results can be found here, while you can find out how you can represent your county here.
U11 Gold Hampshire 2023
Mutiara Mandala and Michelle Chen enjoyed a memorable day at the U11 Gold Hampshire on May 20, going head-to-head in a fascinating girls’ singles final before partnering up to win the doubles.
Mandala came out on top in the singles final, beating her doubles partner 15-8 15-9.
And she followed that up with victory alongside Chen in the girls’ doubles.
The duo handed Abby Zyi En Gan and Jennifer Ha their only loss of the tournament to finish ahead of their rivals in first place.
Yin Yau Rooney Leung was victorious in the boys’ singles but had to settle for second place in the boys’ doubles.
Leung got the better of Jonathan Theivendran 15-9 16-14 at Westgate Badminton Centre to seal a first-place finish having won his semi-final 15-11 10-15 15-11 against Vihaan Nair.
Nair and Theivendran teamed up to beat Leung and partner Lucas Lu 15-9 15-6 in the boys’ doubles final.
All England Junior Open
Badminton England are hosting our first U19 International tournament this summer, sanctioned as part of the Badminton Europe Junior International Series Circuit and awarding players with BWF Junior Ranking points.
Taking place at the University of Birmingham between July 27-30, the All England Junior Open is is set to attract players from across Europe and the World, making this a sought after title in the Junior International Circuit.
It will provide a new opportunity for players and become a ‘must play’ tournament opportunity to aspire to be a part of.
The All England Junior will run over four days, putting it amongst the biggest in Europe Junior Circuit with potential draw sizes of 96 singles, 48 doubles and 64 mixed doubles.
Players interested can find out more about entry through the webpage here.
For those interested in playing a part as a volunteer, helping deliver a fantastic event and experience for all involved, please contact competition@badmintonengland.co.uk for more information on the roles available.
Line Judge training
We are pleased to announce an upcoming course to recruit new line judges ahead of the 4 Nations Para badminton International this summer.
The course is being held on June 17 between 10.30am and 2.30pm at Ponds Forge Sports Centre, Sheffield.
If you are interested in registering, please visit: https://bljae.org/how-to-become-an-bljae-line-judge.
The 4 Nations Para badminton International is taking place at the EIS, Sheffield, from 2-6 August 2023.
