The U17 Gloucestershire Bronze held on 17th March gave our home grown players a good chance to showcase their talent and test themselves against good quality players from across the country.

The day kicked off with the mixed doubles. The only player to make it through to the knockout stages was PC player Jacob Weekes with partner Susanna Ogden. The claimed the gold winning a tough final holding their nerve to win 22-20. A great start to the day.

Onto the singles and our sole representative in the Girls singles was Kajal Patel. Unfortunately she found herself in the same Group as the top seed and couldn’t progress through her group, but an invaluable experience.

The boys singles saw more players from Gloucestershire and the PC in action. Tom Kerley and Ansh Nair paired against some strong players and putting up good fights but were unable to progress. The knockout stages saw County player Scott McKenzie and PC player Jacob Weekes safely navigate through opposite sides of the draw to face each other in the final. And it didn`t disappoint with a very close game! Scott McKenzie winning in a high quality match 22-20, well done to both of you!

The day concluded with the Mens Doubles and some tired bodies on court meant only the double event specialist Raiph Ackroyd representing both the PC and County made it through to knockout stages. With partner Tyler Lee-Allen they cruised through the group and knockout stages winning the tournament with a comfortable 21-10 scoreline in the final.

Badminton Gloucestershire Community supported with funding from Badminton England is working alongside teachers in eight secondary schools within Gloucestershire to support the teaching and learning of badminton. This pilot initiative was established in response to a growth in numbers of pupils opting to take badminton as one of their GCSE PE sports. The scheme consists of a CPD workshop for participating schools followed by five in lesson support sessions with a coach working with students and PE staff.

The following schools are participating in the pilot:

Bournside

Chosen Hill

Cleeve

Dean Academy

Denmark Road

Newent

Pates

Stroud High

It is hoped if the initiative proves successful the scheme will be made available for more schools to apply for.

Gloucestershire Performance Centre are expanding and are now offering limited places to their club. This is seperate to the Performance Training and is aimed at 8-12 years olds looking to start playing badminton. The session will be delivered by a Level 2 Coach based around fun games and practices designed to help enhance the childrens badminton skills and to have fun!

If you are interested in joining please CLICK HERE and fill in the form on the club page to find out more. Spaces are limited.

Sol Griffiths chalked up his 6th Gloucestershire Restricted Men’s Single title at this years championships holding off the young title contenders rising through the ranks. Sunday morning started with a bang as Henry Jones and Jamie Pearcy battled it out for a spot in the final. It took 3 sets to split them with Jones running out the eventual winner 21-16, his reward a final against Griffiths. The semi final potentially taking its toll Jones went down 21-13, 21-8 with Griffiths keeping his name on the Men’s Singles trophy for another year. 

In the Women’s singles it was two Junior players who would battle it out for the trophy in Sian Evans and Vivi Jennings-Trace. It was always going to be a  close match between two players who know each other very well and the match certainly didn’t disappoint. The winning score 13-21, 21-14, 21-16 with Evans grinding out the win to take her first senior title. There is no doubt we will be seeing a lot of these two players in senior finals in the years to come. 

The Women`s doubles took part over the one day on Saturday with a mixture of youth, experience and also a few scratch partnerships to enter the mix. After some very close and hard fought box games it was the two seeded pairs who prevailed through their groups to make the final which again promised to be close. The number 1 seeded Kerry Mullen/Abigail Jolliffe saw off the challenge of Emily Prankard/Isla Townley in 3 sets 21-13, 22-24, 21-13 to etch their names on the trophy. 

Onto the Men’s Doubles with top seeded Jon Horsfield and Mike Haywood beating off the challengers with strong pairs in depth across the event. All the way through the event there was some entertaining badminton and that continued into the semi`s and finals on sunday. First the title winners saw off the combination of Ian Woolway/Jamie Pearcy before beating Andy Woolway/Joe Honeybone in the final to claim another Restricted title. 

The final event of the senior restricted was the Mixed Doubles which saw multiple pairs at the start of the event in with a shot of taking the title. The Box rounds saw a lot of 3 set matches and very tight results which could have gone either way. In the end the semi final lineups were Kerry Mullen/Jamie Pearcy vs Henry Jones/ Matilda Tierney and Ian Woolway/Anna Marie Abdon vs Adam Watts/Emily Prankard. Mullen/Pearcy held off the challenge from Jones/Tierney in two close sets whilst Watts/Prankard put up a close fight before eventually going down to Woolway/Abdon. The final game of the tournament saw some tired bodies and minds on court after the two days of play but the players showed some great skills and determination to provide a high quality final for those that had stayed to watch. Mullen/Pearcy taking the win 21-11, 21-19 to beat the top two seeded pairs on their way to the trophy. 

For full results please click here.

Click Here for the Photo Gallery

Juniors from across the county descended on Cheltenham Ladies College to battle it out to be County Champions.  Here are the winners from the weekend:

There were some great games to watch across all the events in the age groups. Special mention goes to those players who were playing in age groups above their true age group. This is good match play experience for everyone involved and you will all learn a lot from playing players older than yourselves. 

Well done to all of our new county champions and please remember to look after the trophies. 

For full results please click here.

Click Here for the Photo Gallery

The 2018 European Senior Championships  saw each player from Gloucestershire pick up a medal of some colour over the weekend. The sole Gold medal came from Rebecca Panttaney partnering Yorkshire`s Alex Marritt in the Mixed Doubles Over 35 Category. They cam through their final on Sunday in straight games against the Number 1 seeds from Germany 21-17, 21-18 to take the gold. The other final with local interest on the last day of competition was the Mixed Doubles Over 45 category between Nick Ponting/Julie Bradbury and Carsten Loesch/Dorte Steenberg. In an extremely tight game the English pair had to settle for silver as they were just edged out 21-19 in the deciding set. 

Elsewhere the were plenty of Bronze Medals shared amongst the team. Linda Pearcy and Mandy Joiner lost out in the Semi Finals of the Over 50 Women’s Doubles narrowly being beaten 21-18, 24-22 to the number one seeds and eventual winners. Phil Richardson picked up a Bronze with partner Jackie Hurst in the Over 60 Mixed Doubles also losing out to the eventual winners this time from Scotland. 

Pantaney added a couple of Bronze Medals in singles and doubles to add to her Gold whilst Nick Ponting also picked up a Bronze medal in the Over 35 Mens Doubles playing two age groups below his true age. 

A big congratulations to all of the Gloucestershire players and their partners on yet another successful medal haul from a European Senior Championships. 

Some of the counties best veterans have headed to the European Senior Championships in Guadalajara, Spain in the search for medals. 

There are plenty of medal hopes led by Nick Ponting seeded No.1 in the Over 45 Mixed Doubles category and 2nd seed in the Over 35 Mens Doubles category with Yorkshire based Alex Marritt. Marritt also partners Rebecca Pantaney who is seeded in each of the 3 events entered looking to add to her current European and World medal haul. 

Linda Pearcy and Mandy Joiner seeded 5/8 in the Over 50 Womens Doubles get their campaing under way on Tuesday looking to send out a message to their rivals that they are serious contenders for the title. Both are also in the mixed doubles where they partner James Elkin and Trevor Hampson. 

The Gloucestershire squad are completed by Phil Richardson who is seeded 3/4 in the Over 60 Mixed doubles and holds an outside chance of a medal in the Mens Doubles. 

You can keep a close eye on the results by clicking here!

The championships are also being streamed on the Badminton Europe YouTube channel.

The first local tournament of the year bought some success for local county players.

Leading the charge was unseeded Sol Griffiths who won the Men’s Singles title in style only dropping one set on his way to the title. Easing through his group he met No.2 seed Nathaniel Brittany battling back from a set down to progress to the Semi Finals. This set up a local clash for a place in the final with the tired but battling Joe Honeybone who eventually succumbed in 2 sets. The final provided plenty of entertainment and creative shots from both players with Sol taking the title 21-9, 21-19 and he will go into the County Restricted riding a wave of confidence looking to win his 6th Gloucestershire Restricted Men’s Singles title on the bounce.

Plenty of other local interest in the tournament which is good to see with plenty of young players gaining vital experience on the senior circuit for the first time. Once again thank you to all the volunteers and especially Sam Evans for putting on a great tournament in the face of adversity.

The Gloucestershire Restricted 2018 is being held at Cheltenham Ladies College this year on 29th Sept/30th Sept. You can enter online by clicking here!

You will need your Badminton England number and payment will be via paypal. Any problems with this please contact Sam Evans (glostournaments@gmail.com) Entries close 15th September.

All standards are welcome and would make a more competitive and enjoyable tournament for everyone.

We have a Senior Silver tournament being held on the 10th December at Leisure@ in Cheltenham.

Closing date for all entries is 19th November.

Click here for entry details and more information about the tournament.