I agree with a number of your points dlp, but such things are part and parcel of playing an amateur game. I have yet to see any evidence that badminton in England is run in a professional manner. The pattern has always been that more money results in more players. If the Cornwall had decent exposure and sponsorship and offered a prize of £1,000, which is peanuts in most other sports, do you think that the quality would have remained the same? The ranking tournaments do resemble a pyramid structure and this is as it should be. The fact is that not enough people play in the tournaments. This is always going to favour those players who play in eight events without winning over those who play one event and win it. The alternative is to reduce the number of opportunities for people to play in tournaments and I don't favour that approach. I take your point about ladies doubles though. Our Restricted had two entries in the ladies singles and four pairs in the doubles. There was an Open recently that had the top seeded pair go straight into the final and the next two pairs play a semi-final.
I agree Slanter but the pyramid system simply does not work. Whats the point of having C tournaments if top ten players are entering them? Yes , in the womens events there is no standard in the uk. By that I mean you can count on one hand the number of fit , serious women who are on the circuit. The dropout rate for women at 18+ is terrible even amongst england juniors. I remember seeing Julia Mann win the nationals a couple of years ago and barely dropped 11 points in all her games together. At the same time she probably wasn't in the top 30 in the world. The Cornwall had good prize money for an open (£1000 total) so the doubles winners could get £60 each, so they're just in profit after the costs of travel etc. Geography and scheduling meant the Cornwall was doomed to be weak this year. Another option would be that at the bigger events there was a qualifying event and the top players only came in later. Realistically the top seeds at these bigger tournaments never lose to low players. This happens in a way at challengers where the draw is 24 not 32, meaning all but the top 8 play first round and thus they are guaranteed not to meet the top 8 first round.
Well the entry forms are off for the Yorkshire Open. I just hope that we are accepted. I expect the standard to be pretty high there. It is going to be a busy month with three fairly local tournaments in three weeks. After Yorkshire, which is decidedly not local, there is Middlesex, Hampshire and Wiltshire in succession. That has got to be bad planning on somebody's part. There is little time to practice the 50 things that you come away from a tournament knowing you need to work on before your up for similar treatment. Anyone else out there playing any of the above? Matt - sorted out your lift yet? UKP?
I've entered the Yorkshire as well. Its fairly close for me (hour and a half away), so I hope I get accepted, but I can't see it happening to be honest. After that I've got the Northumberland Satellite and the North East Challenger at the beginning of next year.
Not playing any of those Slanter as will only be paying the remaining Satellites up North. Will probably be at the Yorkshire Open though as a friend of mine who is playing in it is coming up to stay with me. Will probably play Northumberland though.
UKPlayer - if you haven't already got a form for Northumberland, you can download one at: http://www.northumberlandba.abelgratis.co.uk/Satellite.htm Closing date is the 16th of November.
Hi there, I played the Cornwall MS (rather badly - out first round) My first tournament though, so I wasn't to surprised I was going to play the Oxford this weekend but when I saw it was a Friday start I changed my mind because I had a club match that night. Then after the closing date for Oxford the club match got cancelled When tournaments start on Friday evenings, how much play is there? just Round 1 ?
Hi guys - still waiting for my events diary from the BAofE - Any of you BUSA guys going to the individuals in November? any ideas what the accomdation is likely to be? back to the subject of Satellite - my partner is an ex-scottish junior nationals champ. do you think the BAofE will stick their noses up? i'm not sure if he's affiliated either but i imagine he should be through our university club. Any ideas? Neil
Coops, as long as your mate is registered with a club in England he will have a number and there is no problem. Failing that, if he is registered with a Scottish club then there again he has no problem as the Open's accept everyone. If he is not with an English club and he wants to get on the ranking list he will have to join the BAofE directly. Dealing in any way with the BAofE is rarely rewarding or profitable. Probably won't play BUSA thuis year due to the commitments of my course. It clashes with the Hampshire Open anyway. Neil, only the singles are played on Fridays. I don't play singles so have rarely been present but I understand that they attempt to play as many matches as they can within the given time frame. They are not allowed to ask to to play a game after 11pm. Most of the time they finish earlier than that. UKP or dlp might be able to tell you more.
does anybody know where i can get hold of an entry form for the yorkshire satellite? the yorkshire badminton association doesn't work? Neil
If you mean the Yorkshire Open Challenger on 16/17 November (if not, ignore me) my diary lists the contact as Mary Hargreaves 45 George Street Cottingham Hull HU16 5QP 01482 849954 but it also says the closing date for entries is today 25-Oct so you'll have to get your skates on
whoops - challenger is a bit too hard for me - and i think it clashes with BUSA individuals as well - not to worry - cheers for checking tho Neil
events diary matt, slanter Where can I find all those dates and location for all the satellite and challenger tournaments in UK(i.e. Hertfordshire open, Essex Open etc) I couldn't find any websites with the details of event calendar. the baofe.co.uk website has broken links and I couldn't find any details there either. If you have list of events for 2002-2003 could you please share it with me. thanks sunny.
you could try http://www.norfolkbadminton.co.uk/NationalCalendar.html that'll give you which weekends things are on. After I joined BAofE I got a diary with the exact dates in. Some tournaments start on the Friday evening I only have the diary on paper copy, but if there is anything specific you are interested in let me know.
events calendar Neil, You mentioned in your reply you joined BAofE? What are the requirements to join with BAofE? What kind of membership is it? Could you let me know? thanks sunny. >>you could try >>http://www.norfolkbadminton.co.uk/NationalCalendar.html >>that'll give you which weekends things are on. >>After I joined BAofE I got a diary with the exact dates in. >>Some tournaments start on the Friday evening >>I only have the diary on paper copy, but if there is anything specific you are >>interested in let me know.
I think the only requirement is that you give them some money. If you are a member of a club check if you are already affiliated. Some clubs do, some dont. My club only affiliates it's members to the County Association, so to be eligible to play in BAofE sanctioned tournaments (setellites etc) I joined BAofE with an OnCourt membership which I think was £13 per year. best regards, Neil
Yorkshire Open: played like a w****r in the doubles. Better in the mixed. Still two first round exits though. Hoping for better in Middlesex next weekend.
