Tournaments?

[Stevenio]

Please can someone tell me what they know about the UK tournaments.

Where are there regular tournaments for senior singles players?

Where can you play tournaments if you're below County level?

What are the Satellite/Challenger Circuits? Do they have gradings for players to avoid beginners playing against advanced players.

I'm looking for regular singles tournaments, but there don't seem to be many unless you're a really good player. I don't want to walk onto court and be completely out of my league.

Any info appreciated. Thanks in advance
Steven

[rachyuk]

Steven,

I did a basic search on the web and came up with mostly league homepages information.

I guess there isn't a definitive list out there. I would suggest you contact your local League committee and if there is a tournament secretary, perhaps they will have knowledge of the local singles tournaments and you could go from there? Once at tournaments you get to hear of other venues etc...

Good luck!

[DuchyOpenBadminton]

Hi Steven, Good to note that you are keen on tournaments. I don't know where you live, but I am the Tournament Secretary for the Duchy of Cornwall Open Championships which attracts players of ALL standards from all over the Country. Our event is a Satellite event within the BA of E which means that as players progress through the tournament, valuable ranking points are gained which are "totted" up within the BA of E and therefore the more events you play and win theoretically should take you to the top of the ranking list. Going back to our Cornwall Open tournament - this is an annual event played in September (this year it is 21st and 22nd) where Men's and Ladies' singles and doubles together with mixed doubles are contested. With the exception of the Mixed (which is played in groups on a round robin basis) all other events are knockout. But do not be put off - we appreciate players have to travel a long way to play in our tournament - therefore we also operate a Plate event for first round losers. This has proved to be very popular as players are given a "second chance" particularly if they are in the unfortunate position to be drawn against the No. 1 seed in their first game. I hope this has given you a little insight into our tournament. Hopefully in a short while I will be promoting the 20th Duchy Open from this site, so watch this space. In the meantime if you wish to have a chat about it or want further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Linda Collins

[minxuk]

Hi
I live in Kent and they arent well supported so get cancelled. Therefore, we have to travel to Sussex where the standard is really high & we dont have a chance!!!

[minxuk]

Does anyone know of any tournament happening in Kent???

[debs]

Does anyone know of any tournaments for players below county standard around Nottingham/Derbyshires, as I'm having the same trouble. I was thinking of trying to organise my own as I can't find any local tournaments, anyone got any advice on how to do it?

[seanrachy]

The Badminton of England, run a Badminton Bonanza series which is approx. 8 tournaments located around England.

It caters for social & low/middle level league players. They run from Nov-April each year.

It is a pity that BoE dont advertise this on their website. It is sponsored by Yehlex.

Cheers,
Sean

[rachyuk]

I emailed the BAofE and they sent me a leaflet about this tournament.

It involves a circuit of 8 tournaments and is sponsored by Yehlex.
The blurb says
"...tournaments are aimed at low to medium league players and social players who play for fun but would like a chance to play different people.

Bonanza Tournaments are also a useful stepping stone to county organised open tournaments for league players who wish to advance to a more competitive level."

Dates:
3 Nov - Chester
11 Nov - Poole
17 Nov - Grantham
24 Nov - Exeter
2 Dec - London
9 Dec - Stevenage
24 Feb - Darlington
21 April - Burgess Hill

You have to complete an application form and pay an entrance fee and you get a discount if you are affilliated to the BAofE through your club already!

[Stevenio]

Firstly a belated thanks to everyone who responded to this thread.

I was planning to play the Bonanza tournaments beginning this September but the BAofE have decided to GET RID OF IT.

This is a nightmare for someone like me returning to the badminton scene after a number of years. I want to play singles, but I don't want to have to travel and then be wiped off court

I appreciate the reassuring post from the Duchy of Cornwall organiser. If all satellite events were promoted in this manner then I would have no qualms about going. However the other events do not appear to take this approach and there is no plate event.

I am very annoyed.

[seanrachy]

The BAoE are runnning the Birmingham Bonanza in August which caters for both social/league standards.

Why dont you enter it ?

Sean

[DuchyOpenBadminton]

Thanks Steve for your compliments regarding the Duchy of Cornwall Tournament - does that mean you will be entering our event??? Please get in touch if you wish me to forward entry forms to you.

[ADZ1]

Rachel, are those Bonanazas just like the one in Birmingham, i.e are they for all age groups?

[ADZ1]

Hi Linda, again could you tell me if this tournament is open to all age groups i.e juniors?

[rachyuk]

Yes, the Bonanza Tournaments were league/club standard I think. Although I read somewhere here that they are being canned?

Can anyone confirm?

[DuchyOpenBadminton]

Hi Adam - yes our Tournament will accept Juniors, although we do not run a Junior event. Having said that if your standard of play is reasonable then we would be delighted to see you. For your information, if you were unlucky enough to get drawn against the no.1 seed, there is always our popular "Plate Event" for first round losers.
Hope you will be able to come down. Please let me know if you require entry forms.

Regards,
Linda

[seanrachy]

Yes Rachel the Bonanza Tournaments (except for the Birmingham one) is being discontinued for the coming season with a possible re-vamp the following season ....

....due to there popularity (not) !!

[ADZ1]

Hi Linda thanks for your response, i would love to come and Im sure my older/much better mates would love to come. I have no problem with playing against seniors-more experience for me!! Yes please could you send four entry forms? Do you require my address or the county schools association? please feel free to IM me or reply via this forum, I look forward to hearing from you, thankyou, Adam

[DuchyOpenBadminton]

Hi Adam - that is good news that you wish to enter our Cornwall Open - if you would like to e mail me at lindahelston56@aol.com with your address I will put some in the post for you. In fact very soon now Badders.com will be doing a feature on our Tournament, so also watch this space.

Kind regards,
Linda

[Jonathan Phillips]

You beat us to it Linda!

The article on the tournament is now the lead article in the news section.

Adam, or any other takers for tournament can now download the entry form directly from the article.

[NeilNicholls]

Hi everyone,
I have entered the Birmingham Bonanza, my first tournament, and I was looking around the internet for other tournaments. They are hard to find but I found something useful at the Norfolk Badminton Association website http://www.norfolkbadminton.co.uk/

They have a link to a National Calendar with all sorts of events on it.

Also useful was going to the baofe site and looking at the county contacts to see which had websites as tournaments are often posted there.

[johngurling]

Sean>

I suggest that you look again at the BAof E website....the Birmingham Bonanza has been advertised on there for a while

[seanrachy]

Thanks John for the message ....

although they are still running the Birmingham Bonanza (this w/e actually) the BAoE have stopped running the Bonanza Series which was made up of say 8 tournaments around the UK.

The stopped it due to lack of interest ...sad that many players couldn't be bothered to turn up and support them. Now they are probably lost forever ...

Sean

[Michael Banks]

The whole Bonanza series was poorly promoted. How are peoplke supposed to get excited about events that they don't understand or don't know about.

I hear the Badminton Association are getting a new website. About time, the current one is such a mess and takes ages to find the new bits of information that have been posted.

Are all badminton associations like this?

[keenfan]

does anyone know what pro tournaments are run around the country? i even like to attend the national tournaments could anyone respond to this and let me know how to find out this information thanks

[keenfan]

well said michael, the website is a total mess, i get results from teletext before the website post them(if at all) the website is farmed out and i told them it was needed to be run by someone who loves badminton, not someone for money. there is a lady in charge now who says things will improve..........we will see

[seanrachy]

Maybe the people that run the Badders website, would like to put in a suitable commercial offer to run the BAoE website ?

Any comments.

Sean

[keenfan]

if they did it would improve 100% overnight, it annoys me that such a great sport is so poorly promoted, with a little effort i am sure they could put a couple of thousand more bums on seats for the All England, if you were a casual observer (like 70% of the CWG spectators you would be hard pushed to know the event in even being played) If someone does not do something soon we may as well pack it in and go back to church halls and wooden rackets

[Jonathan Phillips]

We have had an ongoing dialogue with Stephen Baddeley and the BA of E for some time. They planned to launch their new site in August so it shouldn't be too far away now.

Their favoured option was to go for a rebuild using the existing web designers, but we have offered them our help and advice if they ever need it.

Hopefully we can work with them to increase the flow of information to all badminton players in England and beyond.

[Michael Banks]

Don't care much for any fancy design. Just want up to date news about badminton in England that doesn't just involve England or elite players.

[johngurling]

Here we go again

More posts making those catch all phrases about the efforts of the BA of E......such as events being 'poorly promoted' and 'with a little more effort'..easy to throw around comments like these, but isn't it strange that they are hardly ever coupled with serious or constructive comments as to how things could be 'improved'

Just how are the BAof E going to put a few thousand more bums on seats in the Birmingham arena...where is the finance for this extra effort going to come from...indeed how is the extra promotion going to be funded.

With all due respect to patrick, I think his words speak volumes when he says...'If SOMEBODY does not do something soon' the problem is that far to many people expect others to do that little something...but do nothing themselves...and not just at national level...how many county associations, how many club committees struggle to get volunteers.

Are the BA of E blameless..of course not...but they DO work bloody hard at promoting this great sport

[Michael Banks]

I'm sure the BAofE work very hard. But there is a difference between working hard and working smart.

Having some business heads in amongst those with the badminton experience may help for a start. Nobody enjoys these constant digs at the BAofE but there is a general frustration at what appears to be a lack of direction and communication.

Is there a charter or constitution for the BAofE? Not saying there isn't one but I am not aware of it. Maybe if we could all read this we would understand the lengths they are going to when they are promoting and communicating to their members. Does anyone have it or know where it is?

[seanrachy]

John,

With respect I am sure the BAoE and where I come from WBU, spend plenty of time/energy working to promote and develop this sport.

I for one send emails to the WBU suggesting improvements/ideas.

Last years Bonanza series for instance should have been at least mentioned on the website, my word even a small article should have been included.

What about asking the WBU and the Scottish equivalent to post on there websites some information/invitations to come to the Bonanza tournaments, and offer to support there tournaments in return.

These are simple things that should have been included in the marketing plan for this series - now if the BAoE dont have the people to think of these SIMPLE ideas then they need to get someone in fast to help them out.

I still strongly think it was apathy on the part of players that couldn't be bothered to turn up - however as you have pointed out some of the blame must lay with the organisers.

[keenfan]

some good comments have come from my posting, i know the BAoE work hard, with regard to extra money, why not use lottery money? after all what is the point in having it if the sport is not getting the coverage it warrants.i just wish there was an easy answer (beckham's wages for a year would sort our sport out)

[johngurling]

Interesting points

[johngurling]

Hi...I think there is a general misconception flying around that there is money to be put into Badminton.

Working smart is a great sound bite, but when the BAof E had a Marketing Dept, they fell well below their funding targets, simply because the interest is not there.......Do not forget that if you have a Marketing Manager he will want a salary..he will have to work very long hours, be at most events (and that will number about 10, most at weekends) he will need a car and an expenses account...he will probably demand a salary of £30,000, add £15,000 for the car and expenses of ....well lets say another £5000..that is £50,000 already..add into that the cost of a secretary and, to help with follow up calls etc., he will need an assistant....All of which will quite probably bring the total cost to about £80,000...which he will have to gain before he even starts to earn the BAof E a single penny.

Is this sort of cash available...somehow I doubt it.

As regards non badminton playing people at the BA of E....many working there do not play...and are professional at their jobs

[keenfan]

the good thing about these threads is that people get to hear all points of view. I for one dont know all there is to know and it is interesting to hear from other people on the finer points of funding ect. Maybe in time i will understand why our sport is not in the forfront, thank you for the comments

[Michael Banks]

John. For just 25% of the £80,000 you quote it would be possible for the BAofE to get a first class marketing agency to help them out. They would work on a project basis so no fixed overheads.

As a BAofE member I feel I receive very little for the subscription I pay. On the other hand I would be more than happy to pay double or treble if it led to an increase in activity within those ivory towers.

[baddimo]

Sue - I am also in Kent and there's a Whitstable tournament in October. Email me at andromeda2350@aol.com