It has been another action-packed month of on-court action across the English domestic circuit.
While the eyes of the badminton world were fixed on the Commonwealth Games, there was plenty going on elsewhere this summer before the Birmingham spectacular took centre stage.
Here is our round-up on recent events.
Gold Circuit Tournaments 2022
Some of the most talented young players in the country headed to Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire at the start of July for the annual junior Gold tournaments.
As is tradition, three competitions took place with under-13, under-15 and under-19 categories, the latter held Hatfield at the University of Herts Sports Village.
In the U19 Gold tournament, Adarsh Palani Kumar claimed the title in the boys’ singles after his opponent in the final Michael Ping retired injured.
Second seed Kumar was leading 21-9, 11-9 when Peng could no longer continue.
There was a surprise in the girls’ singles as Grace Sachdeva and Sia Pandit contested the final after Pandit defeated top seed Yulia Tang, 21-15, 22-20 in the semi-final.
But it was Sachdeva who took home the crown after an impressive 21-16, 21-14 win.
Elsewhere, Luke Hoult and Katherine Arksey won the mixed doubles, Chloe Dennis and Sophie Watson topped the podium in the girls’ doubles and the boys’ doubles saw top seeds Hoult and Blake Hoang win the title.
Over in Gloucester at the Oxstalls Sports Park, Yixiang Hu won the U13 boys’ singles, while Martha Ng won the girls’ equivalent title.
And in the U15s boys’ tournament Jacob Yau topped the podium after a thrilling three-set victory over top seed Ryan Tao, winning 21-17, 17-21, 21-14.
In the girls’ event Sofiia Nikolaieva claimed the title after downing Ashleigh Mok 21-11, 21-10, inside 28 minutes.
There was double delight for England junior player James Song who won the boys’ doubles with Lawrence Chen, before later triumphing in the mixed doubles with Sofie Chong.
And finally in the girls’ doubles Sia Pandit and Mili Patel beat Chong and Raye Wan in three sets, 21-10, 12-21, 21-17.
European Seniors Underway in Slovenia
Some of our best over-35 shuttlers have jetted out to Slovenia this week for the European Senior Championships.
England will be represented by a 150-strong squad in Ljubljana across nine age categories, ranging from over-35s to over-75s.
Highlights include Alex Marritt going for gold as top seed in the over-40 men’s singles and he has made a strong start by progressing to Wednesday’s quarter-finals.
Marritt had too much for France’s Julian Fuchs in the round of 16, winning 21-10, 22-20.
In the women’s over-55s Betty Blair, also seeded first, has made a strong start with a 21-3, 21-2 win over Nadia Combes of France to make the last 16.
The finals will take place across Friday and Saturday (August 12-13)
Everyone at Badminton England wishes those competing this week the best of luck.
Senior County Championship Dates confirmed
Dates for the 2022-23 season of the Senior County Championship have been released.
| Champion of Champions | 5-6 November 2022 |
| Weekend 1 | 12-13 November 2022 |
| Weekend 2 | 21-22 January 2023 |
| Weekend 3 | 25-26 March 2023 |
| Division 1 Play-offs | 6-7 May 2023 |
The county competitions give players the opportunity to represent their county in team-based competition.
Buckinghamshire were crowned 2021-22 champions after an exciting season last time around and will be looking to retain their title when the action gets going later this year.
For more details visit or contact your County at https://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/county-badminton-associations/
