Latest News - 2005 Archive

Nottingham Badminton clubs currently lead the country in achieving Clubmark Silver standard.

The scheme’s aim is to raise standards in 20 different sports. It means that Sport England's Clubmark scheme is rapidly becoming the established quality standard for all sports clubs in the country.

The aim of the award is to make badminton accessible to young people who want to develop their sporting talent. It also takes in club quality and development and encourages young people to play sport in a safe environment.

Elaine Spray, Nottinghamshire Badminton’s Development Officer, is proud that, of Badminton England’s 23 Clubmark Silver awards achieved in England, Nottinghamshire have 6 awards and 2 more pending - the most in the country.

The Nottinghamshire clubs that have achieved Clubmark Silver standard are Carlton Forum, Carlton Forum Junior, Mansfield Junior, Phoenixwood, Gedling Junior and Chilwell Olympia Junior Badminton Club. Two further clubs are pending the award - Southwell Junior and Sunrise Junior Badminton Club.

Elaine is working hard to ensure that other Nottinghamshire clubs are registered for Clubmark Silver and believes that this is the way forward for every Sports Club.

Nottinghamshire County Badminton Veterans Teams continued to have mixed fortunes in the ICC national league.

The O/40’s 1st team showed resilience after their recent defeat away to Norfolk, to score a determined 10-2 home win against local rivals Leicestershire. However, the O/40’s 2nd team continued their disappointing start to the season with a 2-10 loss away to Lincolnshire.

The O/45’s opened their season with a satisfying 9–3 win against long standing rivals Cambridgeshire at Chilwell Olympia. The O/45 ladies played their part by winning all their games.

For the second match running, the O/50’s team were narrowly beaten - this time in an exciting home match against Cheshire. The final result was a losing draw 6–6, with only 15 points dividing the teams.

Despite Robert Dumelow producing a star performance and remaining undefeated, the O/55’s suffered a 5-7 loss at home to Warwickshire and after a good win against Yorkshire in their previous match, a depleted O/60’s team went down 4-8 at home to Lancashire.

The Veterans are next in action at Chilwell Olympia on Sunday 11th December, when the O/45’s take on Buckinghamshire, the O/50’s play Lancashire and the O/60’s play Cumbria. Matches start at 11:00am.

Notts player Anthony Clark and his partner, Robert Blair (Leicester) won the men's doubles in the National Elite Open at Wimbledon.

They followed up their 15-4, 15-5 win over Danes M Delfs and P Hasbak in the semi-final by beating Ian Palethorpe (Lancs) and Kristian Roebuck (Derby shire).

But there was disappoint ment for another Notts star, Ruth Coleman, who lost in the quarter-finals of the women's event. She went out 11-6, 11-2 to A Fangel (Denmark).

Mixed Doubles Quarter-Finals: (1) Robert Blair (Leics) & Natalie Munt (Herts) bt Robert Adcock (Notts) & Emma Hendry (Leics) 15- 0 15-0, Peter Hasbak & Trine Niemeier (Den) bt Kristian Roebuck (Derbyshire) & Jenny Wallwork (Yorkshire) 15-8 15-11, (2) David Lindley (Notts) & Susanne Rayappan (Herts) bt Dean George (Herts) & Catherine Grant (Warks)15-9 15-9.
Semi-Finals: Blair & Munt bt Hasbak & Niemeier 15-7 15-2, Palethorpe & Nicholas bt Lindley & Rayappan 15-9 15-8.
Men's Doubles Semi-finals: (1) Robert Blair (Leics) & Anthony Clark (Notts) bt Graham Hurrell (Dorset) & Peter Jeffrey (Essex) 15-11 15-8.
Final: Blair & Clark bt Palethorpe & Roebuck 15-10 15-8.

A star-studded 1st Team started their campaign with an emphatic 14-1 victory against an under-strength. Norfolk side, whose solitary success came courtesy of Katherine Cooper who prevented the whitewash with an impressive display against Jane Schuller at 1st Singles. In the other Singles, Ruth Coleman emerged victorious following a prolonged battle with Sharn Crane, who then took no further part in the match and Norfolk were forced to concede 2 of the 4 Women’s Doubles. As might be expected, Notts. quartet of International Men enabled them to take total control of Singles, Doubles and Mixed without the loss of even a single game. This match marked an important personal milestone for Rachel Ellis – her 100th Appearance for the County – made all the more memorable since she was a member of a Notts 2nd Team defeated 14-1 at Home by Norfolk 1st in 1998 – on that occasion she and Sam Lindley in 3rd Mixed were the sole victors. (Team: David Lindley, Rob Adcock, Chris Adcock, Peter Mills, Ruth Coleman, Jane Schuller, Rachel Ellis, Jane Tarrant)

The 2nd Team continued their impressive start with another 12-3 victory, this time over Northants 1st. Once again the Notts. Men overwhelmed the opposition and Northants must be grateful to Rachel Aiston, the former Yorkshire star, who salvaged their 3 rubbers with an unbeaten display in both Level and Mixed Doubles – our Girls can only benefit from this experience. (Team: Shaun Round, Sam Lindley, Manik Chakravarti, Sam Wadsworth, Penny Reynolds, Sam Reynolds, Alison Pulford, Jenny Ward)

The 3rd Team returned home to record an emphatic 13-2 victory over Norfolk 2nd, who had arrived with only 2 Women and had to concede 3 rubbers, as well as collecting a substantial fine from Badminton England. Highlight of the performance were the Singles victories of both Vanessa Law and especially Helen Norris – who emerged victorious despite losing the opening game in setting. Norfolk were successful in the Men’s Singles – but Notts. dominated Level Doubles and Mixed to maintain their stranglehold on the match. (Team: Toby Massey, Matt Adcock, Andy Howard, Richard Pulford, Stephanie Lally, Helen Norris, Julie Foster, Vanessa Law)

Unfortunately, a much-changed 4th Team could not build on their successful start to the season and just failed to take a point from a 10-5 defeat by Northants 2nd. Kerie Mooney provided our only Singles success and despite Andy Cokayne & Matt Tongue taking both their level doubles, Notts. still required all 3 Mixed to gain a point. Matt & Andy both recorded victories, with help from Kerie & Kim Winfer, only for Loz Johnson & Ailsa Townley to be denied at 3rd Mixed. Special thanks to George Ward for turning out as a late replacement – George & Loz also came close to taking that vital rubber in the Doubles. (Team: Andy Cokayne, Matt Tongue, Loz Johnson, George Ward, Kerie Mooney, Ailsa Townley, Kim Winfer, Nicola Hubbard)

Forthcoming Fixtures:
Sunday 27th November:
1st Away v Oxford 1st (Radley College at 12:00 pm)
3rd Away v Cambridge 1st (Huntingdon L.C. at 12:00 pm)

Sunday 4th December:
2nd Away v Leicester 2nd (Babington Community College at 1:00 pm)

There have been mixed fortunes for the Nottinghamshire County Badminton Veterans Teams.

The O/40’s made the long journey to Norfolk, only to suffer a 2-10 defeat. The Norfolk team was strengthened by the inclusion of England Veterans internationals Eric Plane, Tim Hudson-Church and ex-Derbyshire player Ann Jenkins. The highlight of the match for Nottinghamshire was an excellent win by John Fletcher and Loraine Buck against Eric Plane and Linda Sawyer.

The O/40’s 2nd team battled hard against a full strength Cambridgeshire side, but went down 1-11 to the home team.

The O/50’s suffered a 5-7 defeat against Yorkshire at Mexborough and the O/55’s went down 2-10 away to Staffordshire. The home team included ex-Senior & Veteran international players Dave Eddy and Eddie Sutton.

The O/60’s scored an excellent 8-1 win away against Yorkshire, with a good all-round performance from the team.

The O/65’s continued their good start to the season with a 6-3 victory away to Staffordshire. The Nottinghamshire ladies again taking all their Ladies Doubles, making them undefeated so far this season. The team’s next match is on 18th December when they take on Cheshire at Chilwell Olympia.

Christopher Adcock, (aged 16) of Ravenshead, a pupil of the Colonel Frank Seely School and a member of both Mansfield Junior Badminton Club and the Byron Badminton Club has recovered during the last twelve months from a serious leg injury. Last weekend he successfully took part in the largest Under 17 Junior Tournament in Europe this year in Copenhagen, Denmark. The great news was that whilst not yet considered fit enough to play in the Singles event, he came back with three Gold Medals – he won the Doubles Event with his England Partner from Yorkshire, Marcus Ellis and then went on to win the Mixed Event, once again with an England Partner from Yorkshire, Gabi White.

During the first weekend of November 2004, Chris suffered a career threatening freak injury at a tournament in Nottingham where he broke his leg in three different places. Supported fantastically well by Badminton England and the Sports Science Department at Loughborough University, he has since March of this year been undertaking a rigorous and thorough rehabilitation programme which meant that he was finally able to play in his first serious national tournament in late August 2005.

The season could not have started better. In his first tournament in York which was supported by many international players and the full England squad, Chris won a bronze medal in the Doubles with his regular Under 19 international partner, Peter Mills from Southwell, Nottinghamshire and then went on to win a Silver medal in the Mixed event with his Under 19 England partner, Kirsten Reed from Sussex.

A few weeks later, he entered a major international tournament at Wimbledon and once again won a Bronze in the Mixed and then managed to win Gold in the Doubles beating the current European Number Ones in the Final. By way of a bonus, they managed to dispose of the number one Danish pair in the semi finals.

Having successfully competed in his first two domestic tournaments, Christopher travelled to Denmark for his first International since his accident and as well as winning the two Gold’s in the individual events, England also took it’s first team Gold in the Under 17 team event for at least a decade.

Christopher is now training hard for his singles return, which should take place in early 2006. He is looking forward to being selected for what are effectively the Under 17 European team championships in April 2006, which on this occasion is being hosted by Badminton England at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes.

As a reward for his recent successes, Christopher learnt only last week that he has now been selected for his first Senior International which will take place in Cardiff in early December. A wonderful achievement for both Chris and his partner Peter Mills. Both of these players have been supported throughout their development by the Nottinghamshire Schools Badminton Association and it is a great credit to all the coaches that Chris and Peter have been selected for their first senior international appearance at such a young age.

Cotgrave's Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms beat Korean second seeds Lee Jae Jin and Lee Hyo Jung 15-10 15-10 to take the mixed doubles title in the PICC China Open.

It was the British Olympic silver medallists' first title since their back-to-back triumphs at the Yonex All England and Swiss Opens in March.

Their emphatic victory in Guangzhou followed their defeat in the final of the Hong Kong Open the previous weekend.

They then seek to retain their national title in Manchester in February before going for gold in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March.

Robertson and Emms will continue a busy 2006 after Melbourne by bidding to defend their European title in April in the Netherlands.

This season, each of the 4 Senior County sides have a realistic chance of promotion, and although the 1st Team did not have a match this weekend, all the other 3 teams started their campaign with a victory.

Most impressive was the performance of a young 2nd Team against local rivals Derbyshire, which resulted in a 12-3 victory and all 3 points. The side was boosted by the appearance of England U19 International Peter Mills, who teamed up with Jenny Ward at 1st Mixed to record a hard fought victory over Derbyshire veterans Darrell Roebuck & Linda Wood. In addition, debut girl Alison Pulford achieved a superb win at 1st Singles, Linda Wood again the unlucky loser. There were also unbeaten performances from both Manik Chakravarti & Sam Wadsworth and sisters Penny & Sam Reynolds in the level doubles. (Team: Shaun Round, Peter Mills, Manik Chakravarti, Sam Wadsworth, Penny Reynolds, Sam Reynolds, Alison Pulford, Jenny Ward)

Not to be outdone, the 4th Team also took maximum points from a comfortable 11-4 home victory over Cambridge 2nd. Although this match provided several players with their first taste of ICC action, the highlight was the performance of veteran Kate Miller, who teamed up with Ellen Housley and Alex Dodds to remain unbeaten in both Level & Mixed Doubles, narrowly losing out at 1st Singles. She was ably supported by the efforts of Kim Winfer and Karen Douglas who remained unbeaten in all their events. (Team: Will Simpson, Alex Dodds, Matt Johnson, Richard Shipman, Ellen Housley, Kate Miller, Kim Winfer, Karen Douglas)

In contrast, the experienced 3rd Team returned from a potentially difficult visit to Shropshire with 2 points from a hard earned 9-6 victory. Despite last minute changes to the team line-up, they came within a whisker of obtaining maximum points, Andy Cokayne & Julie Foster just edged out in the final Mixed. This victory owed much to an excellent performance in the Women’s Doubles, with not even a game being conceded. (Team: Toby Massey, Loz Johnson, Andy Howard, Andy Cokayne, Stephanie Lally, Helen Norris, Julie Foster, Vanessa Law)

Hopefully, this impressive start to the season is an indication that Notts. B.A. are finally being rewarded for their considerable efforts in the area of Junior Development. This success needs to be maintained by the 1st Team, who hope to have England International David Lindley available for their opening home fixture against Norfolk.

Forthcoming Fixtures:
Sunday 13th November :
1st Home v Norfolk 1st ; 3rd Home v Norfolk 2nd (Chilwell Olympia at 12:00 pm)
2nd Away v Northants 1st ; 4th Away v Northants 2nd (Wellingborough School at 1:00 pm)

Sunday 27th November :
1st Away v Oxford 1st (Radley College at 12:00 pm)
3rd Away v Cambridge 1st (Huntingdon L.C. at 12:00 pm)

Members of Nottingham County Veterans Badminton squad took part in the Northumberland Challenge Veteran Tournament over the weekend.

Robert Dumelow, playing with Cornwall’s Bob Bell, won the Over 55’s Mens Doubles.

Nottinghamshire’s Christine Richardson and Barbara Dootson of Lancashire were runners up in the O/60’s Ladies Doubles, while the former also partnered Nottinghamshire’s Cyril Martin to runners up spot in the Over 60’s Mixed Doubles.

They may not be as celebrated as some of the other leading sports clubs in the town, but there is no doubting the fantastic success of Worksop Falcons.

Over the last 10 years the badminton club - based at Worksop’ s Valley Leisure Centre - have won more than 350 trophies.

They have also won numerous league titles, had more than 20 players selected to play, for their county and two players picked for England in their age group.

It is a phenomenal record for the club - who coach players from the ages of eight to 17- following its inception back in 1995 by Frank Hardy and Glen Foye, in conjunction with Bassetlaw Council.

But it is current head coach Terry Gilham, who took over during the 1996-1997 season who has really driven the club forward.

He helped the club set up independently after breaking away from the council and continues to bring on new talent along with his sons Richard and James, who also act as coaches.

After seeing a host of young players come through the door, the trio are looking forward to helping another generation improve their racquet skills.

"It is always great to see players go as far as they can with us and then move on to county and national level," said Terry.

"Now we want to continue in the same vein in the future. The coaches at the club are getting more and more qualified as time goes by, so it is all working out very well."

The success of the club was fast becoming evident in 1997 as towards the end of the season, the club had collected 19 trophies from two tournaments and had 10 players training with the county squad.

That was after the under 12s and under 14s teams won their leagues and the under 16s were runners-up in their section.

A year later the club again won the age group with the under 14s and under 16s runners-up.

They also claimed another 54 trophies - including five at a national tournament in Mansfield - and won the team award at the Bassetlaw Sports awards as a result.

In the next few seasons, titles have continued to flow and even increased when the league was switched to under 11s, under 13s, under 15s and under 17s categories to cope with a growing number of players.

More recently the club has become involved in the Notts Youth Games and in 2003-2004 six of the event winning Bassetlaw badminton squad were from the Falcons.

Terry added: "From a personal point of view it has been very rewarding and I have enjoyed putting something back into the game after playing myself".

"We have about 50 youngsters coming down each week, with good parental support, associating and competing with each other which is great to see."

"It's also good to have the respect of the clubs in Nottingham because we are ‘in the sticks’ but are still able to compete."

The club marked their 10th anniversary in June when player and committee members past and present attended a special ceremony.

The club were presented with a commemorative plaque by Bassetlaw Council chairman, coun Michael Bennett.

A demonstration by juniors Jane and Paul Schuller (both who have played for England), Neil Rhyves and Thereza Oliver-Smith followed.

A further generation tournament was also played to help celebrate the landmark with Craig Middleton and father, Ben Wheatley and mother, Sam Storey and father and Adam Ransford and father the four section winners.

Nottinghamshire County Veterans Badminton squad kicked off their 2005-2006 season on Sunday with no less than four teams competing at Chilwell Olympia.

The Over 40’s 1st team took on the 2nd team players and scored a maximum 12-0 win.

The Over 40’s 1st team were boosted by the inclusion of Loraine Buck, now with the Veterans after many years in the County Senior team. Despite the loss, the 2nd team players showed some encouragingly strong performances.

The Over 55’s came up against a strong Leicestershire side, unfortunately losing 2-10.

However, the Over 65’s continued from where they left off last year with an excellent 8-1 win against long-standing rivals Staffordshire.

The teams return to Chilwell Olympia on Sunday 20th & 27th November, when the opposition includes Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Cheshire and Lancashire.

More than 30 Nottinghamshire badminton players appear in the latest English National Rankings. All age groups are represented with local players in the top 100 of the National, Junior and Veterans rankings.

Leading the way are our Mixed Doubles players, with Olympic Star Nathan Robertson ranked at 1, Anthony Clark at 3 and David Lindley at 5. Making it a clean sweep for the East Midlands, Leicestershire’s Robert Blair and Derbyshire player Kristian Roebuck are ranked at 2 and 4. Byron Badminton Club’s up and coming star Robert Adcock is at 13.

The same four Notts players appear in the National Mens Doubles Rankings, with Nathan Robertson at 3, Anthony Clark at 4, David Lindley ranked at 6 and Robert Adcock at 19.

Byron BC’s Neil White is ranked at 9 in the Mens Singles, while David Lloyd WB’s Ruth Coleman is at 22 in the Womens Singles. Ruth also appears in the Womens Doubles at 27.

In the National Veterans Rankings, Nottingham Veterans BC’s Christine Richardson is ranked at 2 in both the Over 60’s Mixed Ladies and Womens Singles, and at 5 in the Over 60’s Ladies Doubles.

Despite having a long layoff from the game, Beeston Fields BC’s Pam Wallace is back to her best and ranked at 2 in the Over 65’s Ladies Doubles and 3 in the Over 65’s Mixed Ladies. Redhill BC’s Barbara Henley is ranked at 6 and 7 in the same competitions.

Forest BC’s Robert Dumelow is ranked at 5 in the Mixed Over 55’s, while Cyril Martin is at 2 in the Mixed Over 60’s and 8 in the Over 60’s Mens Doubles.

In the Over 65’s group, Nottingham Veterans’ Bill Houghton is ranked at 4 in the Mens Doubles and 7 in the Mixed Doubles. Beeston Field’s Keith Wallace is at 4 in the Mixed Doubles. Nottingham Vets’ Colin Abbott is at 7 in the Mens Doubles.

In the Junior Rankings, Southwell’s Peter Mills is ranked at 2 in the Mixed Doubles, 6 in the Boys Doubles and 7 in the Boys Singles. Carlton Forum’s Richard Pulford is ranked at 12 in the Boys Singles, while Byron’s William Simpson is at 19 in the Mixed Doubles. Ruth Coleman is ranked at 3 in the Girls Doubles and at 4 in the Girls Singles.

Other ranked players: -
Mixed Doubles: - Peter Mills – 44, Richard Pulford – 65.
Mens Doubles: - Manik Chakravati – 77, Peter Mills – 82
Mens Singles: - Richard Pulford – 61, Peter Mills – 84
Womens Singles: - Jane Schuller – 43, Jenny Ward – 59, Sarah Stevenson – 89
Womens Doubles: - Rachel Ellis – 72, Jenny Ward – 83
Womens Mixed: - Rachel Ellis – 56, Jane Schuller – 61, Jenny Ward – 91
Boys Singles: - William Simpson – 38, Peter Schuller – 43, Scott Howard – 61, Matthew Johnson – 77, Alexander Dodds – 80
Boys Doubles: - William Simpson – 24, Alexander Dodds – 25, Peter Schuller – 54, Matthew Johnson – 55, Richard Pulford – 84, Scott Howard - 88
Girls Singles: - Alison Pulford – 21, Samantha Reynolds – 23, Jessica Tandy – 68
Girls Doubles: - Samantha Reynolds – 24, Alison Pulford – 27, Jessica Tandy – 55
Mixed Doubles (Boys): - Scott Howard – 36, Christopher Adcock – 41,Luke Swannack – 60, Richard Pulford – 76, Mark Harrison – 79, Kabir Khan – 98
Mixed Doubles (Girls): - Alison Pulford – 29, Samantha Reynolds – 35, Jessica Tandy – 53, Ruth Coleman – 59, Thereza Oliver-Smith – 66, Jenny Ward – 93

Robertson, from Cotgrave, damaged his ankle while training in a virtually deserted Arrowhead Pond arena in the US.

"Someone up there has us jinxed," said Emms, after the Olympic mixed double silver medallists and number one seeds were forced to pull out.

"Everything has been going wrong in the build-up to these championships. I can"t remember one like it.

"Our physio John Dennis fell off his bike and broke his hand, coach Andy Wood hurt his neck, some of the players are carrying injuries and then, to cap it all, Nathan injured his ankle.

"There was nothing unusual, he just went for a shot. At first I thought he was messing about, just having a joke. He just fell down on the floor.

"Then we said 'You're serious, aren't you?'. He was lying there just swearing his head off. He was in agony. When our coach, Ian Wright, took his shoe off, he was screaming in pain.

"We think he's torn his ligaments. He can't even go home till the swelling goes down.

"I can't believe how much has gone wrong on this trip. Players taking so long to arrive because of the British Airways dispute. Some of the players were diverted to Las Vegas because of bad weather and were so tired when they arrived they had to hire a limo for the five-hour journey.

"They were desperate to get here because they were due to play - and then they discovered their opponents had withdrawn because they couldn't get visas."

Cotgrave's Nathan Robertson has had to withdraw from the World Badminton Championships in Anaheim, California, because of an ankle injury.

The Olympic silver medallist suffered a sprained right ankle in training on Sunday.

Due to the low number of teams currently playing in the Ladies League, it was proposed at the Senior Association AGM in May 2005 that the a and b sections of Divisions 2 and 3 should be abolished and replaced by 6 straight divisions.

This would mean that there would be a Ladies Premier, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Division.

It was envisaged that these changes would not be implemented until the beginning of the 2006/07 season, but due to the general popularity of the proposal, an amendment was put forward that it should take place with immediate effect.

The proposal and amendment was passed by 22 votes to 9 and the changes will come into force for the coming season, 2005/06.

Nottinghamshire Badminton Association are celebrating the selection of 3 Notts players for the national team.

Nathan Robertson, Anthony Clark and David Lindley have been selected to represent England at the World Championship in Anaheim in August.

The Mens Doubles pairings will be Nathan Robertson & Robert Blair (Leics), Kristian Roebuck (Derbyshire) & David Lindley and Simon Archer (Worcs) & Anthony Clark.

In the Mixed Doubles, Nathan Robertson plays with his regular partner Gail Emms (Herts), while Anthony Clark partners Donna Kellogg (Derbyshire).

Badminton England have announced that two more clubs from Nottinghamshire have achieved the new status of Badminton Silver Club and Clubmark.

To recognise this achievement Carlton Forum BC and Gedling Junior BC will receive certificates and will now be able to use Sport England Clubmark logos to represent this tremendous achievement.

This standard demonstrates that these clubs have strong coaching and effective management in place and that they take equality and child protection issues seriously.

Stewart Hague, President of Nottinghamshire Badminton Association, added his congratulations on their achievement and hoped that it would encourage others to continue to earn similar honours.

For the first time, Notts Schools Badminton Association won the Primary and U12 North Midway league team events.

And the U13 squad reached the National Team Challenge finals, finishing fifth out of the 12 finalists.

The U15 squad has enjoyed a very successful season, after failing to qualify for the national team challenge finals two years ago. This time round they finished second to Yorkshire.

At U17 level, Notts took part in the annual inter-counties tournament at the University of Nottingham.

There was a record entry of 39 counties and, despite missing three players, including England U17 No 1 Christopher Adcock, the team came third overall.

Individually, his brother Robert Adcock became national champion at U19 men's and mixed doubles.

He followed this by becoming the first Englishman in 20 years to become a double European Championship individual medal winner, with two silvers in the same events.

Ruth Coleman also did well at the U19 English Nationals, winning a silver in the ladies doubles.

At U17 level, Notts can also boast a new double National Champion in Peter Mills, who was crowned national men's doubles and mixed champion at the Nationals.

He almost made it a triple success by losing narrowly in three ends in the singles.

Alison Pulford, in the U15s, gained a national silver in the ladies' doubles.

At the same tournament, Samantha Reynolds of Nottingham High School for Girls won a bronze in the individual singles.

Notts still have nine players on the World Class programme and are seen across England as one of the top three counties in every age group.

Mansfield Junior Badminton Club celebrated winning 4 out of 5 Notts Junior Badminton league titles with a presentation evening.

Kirkby-in-Ashfield club, Kirkby Crocodiles, are this year celebrating a record breaking 6 league titles, with 5 of their teams having an unbeaten 100% record.

Match secretary, Ron Dennis, said, “the club was only formed in 2001. We have progressed to such an extent, that the first ladies team has now been promoted to Division One and the first men’s team to Division Two. Due to the publicity that has come from these excellent results, several County players have now joined the club, which should help us to continue to succeed. It is obviously going to get tougher as we progress up the league tables and we are hoping to attract more players of ability, to further strengthen our squad and enable us to get to the very top.”

This year’s success far exceeds Kirkby Crocs previous results over the past two seasons when they won four titles in 2003/04 and two in 2002/03. It is also a far cry from their first season in 2001/02 when, with five teams, they only managed to win one game between them.

Nottinghamshire’s Robert Adcock from Ravenshead (aged 18 and a member of Byron Badminton Club) smashed his way into two finals (Mens and Mixed Doubles) at the European Junior Championships in Den Bosch, Holland over the weekend. This has not been achieved by an English player for many years.

Robert and his Men’s Doubles partner Edward Foster (Yorkshire) beat their German counterparts in the semi finals by a convincing 15-5 15-10 score line before losing to the current European number one seeds from Denmark 15-10 15-5 in the Final. In the Mixed Doubles, Robert partnered Jenny Wallwork, also from Yorkshire, who trains with Robert in Sheffield. In the semi final, Robert and Jenny took the game to the Russian pair beating them comfortably 15-5 15-4 in a staggering 21 minutes. In a high quality final, they lost once again to the European number one seeds from Denmark, who had beaten them only a few short weeks ago in the final of the German Open.

This achievement marks the pinnacle of a long line of successes for Robert this season. Prior to this event taking place, Robert had won Gold at the Langenfeld Junior International Men’s Doubles and Malmo International Men’s Doubles. He is currently Junior Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles National Champion. He enjoyed an outstanding tournament at the German Open last month where he defeated many of the world’s top players at Under 19 level from across the Far East. He has been rewarded for this season’s achievements by selection for his first Senior National Cap in Holland next month.

Robert is currently studying for a degree in Sports Management at Sheffield Hallam University and trains at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Nottinghamshire seems to be going from strength to strength with talented badminton players as Robert following in the footsteps of Olympic Silver Medallist Nathan Robertson. Following Robert is his younger brother, Chris, currently recovering from a severe leg injury, who has considerable potential to achieve. The County can also proudly boast another Double National Champion at Under 17 level in Peter Mills from Southwell.

The County is not resting on its laurels, however, and is looking to continually improve its training standards and performance. A link has recently been established with a top Danish Badminton brand, Forza, who already sponsor Robert. Arrangements are being made for the Ex National Singles Coach Steve Butler, now Managing Director of Forza, to come into the County during next season to deliver coaching sessions for their talented youngsters.

Senior County Coach Peter Herrity said: “We are very proud of all of our players and not least the eight individuals from Nottinghamshire currently benefiting from the world class programme. Robert’s achievements have been exceptional during the last two years and we hope that many of our other youngsters will follow in his footsteps.”

Peter Mills, 16, of the Minster School Southwell (and a member of Beauvale Badminton Club, Southwell Badminton Club and Southwell Junior Badminton Club) enjoyed great success last weekend by winning the Under 17 National Doubles and Mixed Championships at Fenton Manor Stadium in Stoke on Trent.

Peter, who has been a regular international since the age of 12, also missed out narrowly on a third Gold Medal by losing 15/12 in the third end of the Singles Final. Overall, a fantastic achievement.

Whilst the team is yet to be selected, the County Coaches are hopeful that Peter will be selected to lead the England Team at the Six Nations Championships (effectively the European Championships) in France shortly after Easter. He will also play a key role in the Nottinghamshire Under 17 Team that contests the Inter Counties Trophy over the Easter period at Nottingham University. This is the largest junior tournament of its type in Europe and this year Nottingham will play host to 34 different County Teams.

Peter’s success comes shortly after a similar achievement by Robert Adcock, also of Nottinghamshire, who won the Under 19 Doubles and Mixed Championships at Milton Keynes only a few short weeks ago. Peter Herrity, Senior Coach for Nottinghamshire Schools Badminton Association said, “It is a very proud moment for Nottinghamshire to boast Double National Champions at both Under 17 and Under 19 levels contemporaneously. All credit must go to Peter and Robert, together with the fantastic support that they have had from the County Coaches during recent years. The County still has no less that 8 of its Junior Squad Members on the world class programme”.

Robert Adcock (aged 18) of Ravenshead, a former member of Mansfield Junior Badminton Club, enjoyed huge success last weekend at the Under 19 National Badminton Championships at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes. Robert, who has been a regular Junior International for the last six years, won his first two National Titles at Under 17 level two years ago and successfully retained both the Mens Doubles and Mixed Doubles titles in this year’s event.

This caps what has been an outstanding season for Robert - he has won numerous European Medals starting with the major Open Events in both Denmark and Germany in the autumn of last year. In October, he represented England in the Under 19 World Junior Championships in Vancouver, Canada and was the last non-Asian player to reach the last sixteen in both the Doubles and Mixed.

Robert is now looking forward to representing England in the largest European Under 19 event of the year in Germany in two weeks time and then hopes to be selected for the full Under 19 European Championships, which take place in Holland over the Easter holiday break.

Two weekends ago Robert reached the quarterfinals of the Senior National Badminton Championships at the Velodrome in Manchester, losing in the last eight to the World No. 7 Mixed Doubles pair, Robert Blair and Natalie Mont. An outstanding achievement.

Robert, who is in his first year at Sheffield Hallam University, now trains at least one day a week with the Senior National Squad in Milton Keynes alongside Nottinghamshire born Olympic Silver Medallist Nathan Robertson.

They outplayed British Olympic team-mates Robert Blair and Natalie Munt 15-7 15-4.

The Olympic silver medallists and European champions took command from 7-7 in the first game, surging away to win eight successive points.

In the second there was no stopping them as the World No.2s ran away with the title they last won two years ago.

It gave Robertson, from Cotgrave, his third mixed title with Emms, who was winning her fifth.

But Robertson missed out on a second title when he lost in the men's doubles with partner Robert Blair.

Robertson and Blair were beaten by fellow Notts player Anthony Clark and Simon Archer 15-10, 17-16 on their third match point of a thrilling match.

Archer and Clark had a point to prove after Robertson switched from Clark to Blair after the Olympics, despite having won the European silver medal with him last April in Geneva.

Cotgrave's Nathan Robertson is seeded to retain his two titles at the English National Badminton Championships.

Olympic silver medalists Robertson and Gail Emms are top seeds for the mixed doubles at the Manchester Velodrome which start today and finish on Sunday.

And Robertson (five men's titles) is the men's doubles top seed with new partner Robert Blair.

Robertson's old partner, West Bridgford's Anthony Clark, has now teamed up with Simon Archer.

Archer (eight titles) and Clark (three) are the second seeds, with 2004 runners-up David Lindley, from Nottingham, and Derby's Kristian Roebuck at No.3.

In the mixed doubles, Robertson and Emms are favourites to regain their title, and are seeded to meet Indonesian Open runners-up Blair and Natalie Munt in the final.

Sydney 2000 bronze medalist and Commonwealth mixed champion Archer, who won last year to make it six mixed titles, finds himself without a partner after Kellogg's decision to play alongside Clark.

SEEDS
Men's Singles: 1 Aamir Ghaffar (Middlesex) 2 Andrew Smith (Hants) 3 Nick Kidd (Avon) 4 Nathan Rice (Bucks) 5 Toby Honey (Surrey) 6 Rajiv Ouseph (Middlesex) 7 Simon Hardcastle (Essex) 8 Mark Constable (Warwicks).

Women's Singles: 1 Tracey Hallam (Staffs) 2 Julia Mann (Warwicks) 3 Elizabeth Cann (Jersey) 4 Jill Pittard (Warwicks).

Men's Doubles: 1 Robert Blair (Leics) & Nathan Robertson (Notts) 2 Simon Archer (Worcs) & Anthony Clark (Notts) 3 David Lindley (Notts) & Kristian Roebuck (Derby) 4 Ian Palethorpe (Lancs) & Paul Trueman (Yorks).

Women's Doubles: Ella Tripp (Cheshire) & Jo Wright (Lancs) 2 Gail Emms (Herts) & Donna Kellogg (Derbyshire) 3 Liza Parker (Herts) & Suzanne Rayappan (Herts) 4 Kelly Matthews (Herts) & Natalie Munt (Herts).

Mixed Doubles: 1 Nathan Robertson (Notts) & Gail Emms (Herts) 2 Robert Blair (Leics) & Natalie Munt (Herts) 3 Anthony Clark (Notts) & Donna Kellogg (Derbyshire) 4 Kristian Roebuck (Derbyshire) & Liza Parker (Herts).

Badminton took top honours at the Nottinghamshire Sports Review of the Year 2004. The Review, presented by the Culture & Community section of the Nottinghamshire County Council, was held at the East Midlands Conference Centre on 20th January 2005. The evening was attended by nearly 500 people and highlighted the depth of sporting achievement within the ‘Sporting County’.

In addition to individual sporting achievement the vital back up of coaches, administrators, volunteers and teams were also suitably honoured.

The Professional Sportsperson of the year award was presented to Nathan Robertson.

Nathan, encouraged by his parents, stated playing badminton at the age of six in his native Cotgrave and progressed steadily through the Nottinghamshire Junior and Nottinghamshire Schools Associations league and county systems before becoming a vital member of the senior county squad.

The county was however soon to lose Nathan’s full time services as at 18 he first represented England and quickly went on to become a national and international force. After bronze at the World Championships and several Grand Prix successes, 2004 was a year to remember for Nathan and mixed doubles partner Gail Emms.

After European glory, they enthralled television viewers across the country to win silver medals in Athens and created one of the abiding images of the Olympic Games.

The Junior Sportsperson of the year award was presented to Chris Adcock.

Chris started his badminton, under the direction of coach Sue Manchester, at the Cornwater Junior Badminton Club in Ravenshead and quickly progressed to the Nottinghamshire Schools’ County Squad and even more quickly on to the England Junior National Squad.

At 15 years old Chris has had an amazing 12 months representing England on numerous occasions from Under 15 to Under 19 levels. He enjoyed a truly fantastic season winning half a dozen gold medals at European events.

At the European Championships he was the first English boy to win the European Under 15 singles title and go on to win gold in the doubles and a third gold in the team event. This is the first time England had won the team event since 1987.

Chris also retained three national titles and was selected for the Nottinghamshire Senior 1st team at the age of 14. He was also a member of the Under 15 and Under 17 teams that won their National Shires League during 2004.

At present Chris is England’s No 1 Junior at Under 16 and is making his way to the England Senior No 1 spot.

It was an appropriate and exciting moment when Nathan made the presentation to Chris and both being interviewed together by the evening’s compere Andrew James. It is clear that Chris is out to emulate Nathan and it will not be too long before Nottinghamshire Badminton can boast two Olympic medallists.

The spirit of Chris is highlighted by his recovery from a horrific injury when he broke his leg in three places some ten weeks ago. His determination and intensive treatment is now seeing him well on his way to recovery.

A new category opened the proceedings for the evening and was designated for the ‘Club of the Year’. The award, which included a £1000 support package, aimed to recognise clubs who are innovative, have a history of success (not necessarily on the field), demonstrate quality, take their work into the community and who have a depth of volunteering. Phoenixwood Badminton Club reached the final nomination stage for this award.

The Nottinghamshire Badminton Association would like to take this opportunity to thank the Nottinghamshire County Council for all the support and guidance they have given badminton during 2004.

Sporting Heroes Are The Pride Of Notts

The finest sporting talent in Notts has been rewarded for their achievements in 2004.

Leading the way were Olympic badminton hero Nathan Robertson and British Superbike champion John Reynolds.

They were named the top sports personalities at the Nottinghamshire Sports Review.

Ravenshead's Chris Adcock won the Junior Sportsperson of the Year. He was the first English boy to win the European under-15 badminton title and helped England to win the team title for the first time since 1987.