2 June, 2023
There was plenty of action in May for Badminton England’s pathway players, with camps and trials taking place from U16 to U19 level.
This included the final EJP U17 camp of the year, as well as trials taking place under a new system, meaning it has been a busy month for the junior pathway players.
EJP U17 Camp –Â 20-21st May
The final England Junior Pathway Camp of the year took place on May 20-21 at the National Badminton Centre, led by Dave Lindley.
Support came from Sara Sankey and Max Flynn and Jessica Hopton, two recently retired England Programme players.
The camp saw U17 Programme players and additional players invited to partake in singles and doubles-based sessions, all with specific themes chosen by the coaching team based on observations from recent domestic and international tournaments and progressions from practice at recent camps.
These areas included players focusing on being able to apply pressure in their counter defence through shot quality and placement and the movement that follows this.
There was also a strong focus on the start of the rally, particularly in doubles and how to be in a controlling position at this stage by limiting opponent’s options. This will remain as an ongoing theme in future camps.
Singles continued to look at options of neutralising when under pressure from various positions on the court and how to control the pace of these situations by adding pace or height.
The players also had their warm-ups led by Kathryn Canham, the EJP S&C Coach, and were taken for a gym session over the course of the weekend.
Engage / Progress Trials Review Â
In April at the Jubilee Sports Centre, 55 players from the U16 to U19 age groups came together to showcase their abilities in both singles and doubles match play at the University of Nottingham.
During the day, the EJP S&C Coach Kathryn Canham was also on hand to witness the physical capabilities of players by overseeing jump testing and the 30:15 test.
This year there is a re-introduction of National Junior Trials, brought back to specifically assist in the updated review process of the Junior Programme.
This will be done through a combination of results, performance trajectory and player profile to form a longer-term Player Development focus.
Designed to place a stronger emphasis on the importance of developing a strong individual player profile, players will no longer solely be assessed purely on their results for a programme place.
All players in attendance at the Engage / Progress Trials are to be provided with the outcome of the Review around mid-June.
Morten Frost, Performance Director, attended the Trial days and commented: “We are really pleased with the re-introduction of Junior National Trials this year to support the review process for the England Junior Programme for 2023-24.
“I thought that the weekend in Nottingham went well and it was great to see such a large number of players being given an opportunity to be seen and play matches, whilst being observed by coaches from our National Coaching Team and some of our experienced Network coaches.
“All Coaches in attendance were really pleased to have the chance to see players altogether and it was a great day where everyone worked hard! Thanks to all players, parents and coaches for their efforts and for supporting the weekend.”
Nikki Tarrant, Programme Manager for the EJP, added: “The Junior Trials have given us an opportunity as a programme to provide further transparency to the Junior review process, which also includes the EJP Review Panel consisting of both Badminton England and external network Coaches.
“This provides greater insight into the selection of players onto the England Junior Programme for 2023-24.
“It was certainly great to see everyone in Nottingham – our thanks to you all for putting in the effort over the course of what was a busy couple of days!’
Further information on the Junior Programme, the updates made to the Criteria / Review process and why these changes were made can be found on the BE website here.
Polish U17 Open
Mili Patel reached the women’s singles quarter-finals in Białystok.
Patel defeated Liepa Budryte 21-7 21-13 in the round of 32 before overcoming Jore Kavaliauskaite 21-10 21-14.
In the last eight, she came up against third seed Anastasiia Alymova, who triumphed 21-13 21-10.
Sia Pandit came through her opening clash with Amelija Klimaite 21-4 21-8 before being beaten by Maria Koriagina in the last 16.
Pandit and Patel fell at the same stage of the women’s doubles against Ukrainian pair Oleksandra Botsman and Daria Koshechkina, while Sonish Hathi also reached the last 16 in the men’s singles following his round of 32 win over Gino Monopoli.
