SUSSEX SCHOOLS BADMINTON NEWSLETTER

Issue 4 - February 2003

Thank you to everyone who has given me results of tournaments, I can be contacted at george4t@hotmail.com, or phone me on 01273 388876, or write to Teresa George, 4 Jubilee Road, Portslade, Sussex, BN41 1SU.

At the Senior Nationals which were held at The Triangle, Burgess Hill on Friday 31^st January to Sunday 2^nd February, I watched Harry Wright (Merseyside) aged 18 reach the 1/4 finals and Raj Ouseph (Middlesex) aged 16 play against Colin Haughton (England ranking No1 and World ranking No11).  Raj played like a true professional losing 12-15 and 10-15, I wondered if Colin knew how old Raj was.  I felt that within the next two or three years Raj and Harry would be fighting for the England No1 position.  I first watched these two young players in the final of the singles in the Berkshire Under 12 open 6 years ago.  Dean and I were amazed at their grace and ability. This tournament is a ideal stepping stone into national tournaments from county tournaments for those of you who still have another year in the Under 13 squad after this season or if you are in the West/East Sussex under 11 squads. This tournament will be held at Bracknell Sports Centre on May 3^rd.   The entry forms can be obtained from Sue Mitchell 0118 987 5123 X 4092.  A little further a field is the Rising Stars under 12 in Warwick on May 24^th - entry forms from R Goode, 02476 414471.     

Tournament Results

ESBA Sussex Under 13, 15 and 17 by Tony Browne

ESBA SUSSEX TOURNAMENTS

Usual format, many familiar faces and a fair number of first-time visitors, but a different  venue - that was the story of the 28th Sussex Junior, transferred from its original home at Worthing to the excellent facilities of the Triangle at Burgess Hill, where keen competition was in evidence in each of the 3 age groups.

 SUSSEX MEDAL WINNERS

                                     U17                                                  U15                                              U13

Boys Singles Premier  Silver    Luke Jones               Gold       Josh Miles                          Gold       Luke Thomson

                               Bronze  David Askey

       These two produced the "Match of the Day" in their Semi -after an hour Luke won 12-15 17-15 15-14 with David optingnot to set in the 3rd game.

Girls Singles Premier Gold  Heather Olver                                                           Silver       Bronwyn Powell

                                                                                                                               Bronze   KimberleyGeorge

G S Intermediate                                                  Silver   Bronwyn Powell

G S Standard          Gold   Kirsten Read                 Bronze   Helen Merrett

                            Bronze  Joanne Millward          

Kirsten & her opponent in the Final, Hannah Littlecott

(Hants) are both still U15 players - this was a repeat

of last year's U17 Final

                                        U17                                                U15                                           U13

Boys Doubles Main   Gold      David Askey                                                                                    Gold    Luke Thomson

Boys Doubles Alternate  Bronze Dennis Caleb &         Gold  William Hilton-Jackson            Bronze  William Harrington

                                               Charlie Kenward                & John Nolan

                                                                             Silver  Kevin Gill & Nick Wright 

Girls Doubles Main    Gold   Heather Olver &             Silver Sarah Leach & Sarah Boyce                   Gold     Kimberley George

                                    Kirsten Read                 Bronze  Becky Laffan & BRONWYN POWELL           Silver    Bronwyn  Powell          

Girls Doubles Alternate                                        Silver  Helen Merrett & Natasha Corke   Bronze   Justine Thomson

MEDALS TABLE OVER 3 AGE GROUPS

(IN THE STYLE OF THE OLYMPICS)

                                                    GOLD                            SILVER                         BRONZE

SUSSEX                                         11                                   10                                  10

Hertfordshire                                     8                                     7                                   4

Kent                                                  5                                     -                                    4

Dorset                                               4                                     2                                    5

Essex                                                4                                     2                                    3

ESBA South East |Harrow Under 15 - 26^th January

Helen Merrett participated in this tournament. She won all the singles in her box, 15-4, 15-3 and 15-10, going through to the Semi-Final where she lost after a hard-fought game to Natalie Gilders (BU), 11-15, but achieved a bronze medal.  In the doubles she partnered Lucie Vickers (GL), winning 4 of their 5 games to gain the gold medal.  Well done to Helen.

ESBA South East Home Counties Under 13 - 1^st February

Bronwyn Powell was runner up to Caroline Felton 16-17 and won the doubles final with Fontaine Chapman 15-11.

Bronwyn also travelled to ESBA Under 13 North at Bradford on the 15^th-16^th February.  She was runner up in the singles final to Kate Robertshaw (Yorkshire) and also runner up in the doubles with Phillipa Rogers (Cheshire).  Luke Thomson also entered this tournament and was runner up in the singles and doubles.

I gather it wasn't the best of venues for a badminton tournament, but also a very long way to go. A little tip to you all - you really don't have to travel this far.  There are plenty of tournaments to enter with the right amount of competition without visiting the wilds of Bradford!  We do live at the bottom of the country and therefore there is an amount of travelling involved, the better you get there is more to do,  you can still be selective - but the better you get the more experienced you become at saying "Bradford? - no way!"

ESBA Under 11 Stroud - 19^th January 2003

Congratulations to Eddie and Harry Hacking both of the West Sussex Under 11 squad who won silver for the doubles at the above tournament.

Under 17 Nationals

Congratulations to Heather Olver, Heather is the Under 17 National doubles champion with partner Charity Barnes (Norfolk), Jenny Wallwork(Yorkshire) and Becky Fairhurst (Warcs) in the final 17-15 in third.  Heather also got to the semi finals of the singles were she lost to Jenny Wallwork in 2 games.  Dean took advantage of the number 1 seed Raj Ouseph withdrawing with illness by making it to the final of the singles and just losing out in the doubles semi finals with partner Andy Ellis (Yorkshire) losing 16-17 in the third against Tom Armstrong (Gloucestershire) and Chris Wight (Buckinghamshire).  But the Dean had to withdraw after that game because he had caught flu from Raj! They train together at Wimbledon and Raj wasn't feeling too well on the Thursday before.  This saw Andy Ellis National Under 17 singles champion by not playing a semi final (Tom Dunlop-Greater |Manchester had withdrawn on the Sunday morning with an injury) and not playing a final because Dean had withdrawn! 

Under 15 Nationals

Congratulations to Kirsten Read, Kirsten is now the Under 15 Nationals Mixed Champion.  She won this title with partner Chris Adcock (Nottinghamshire) at Doncaster.

Coaching Afternoon and Summer Camp

Jason Large and Wendy Taylor (England Under 15 Age Group Coaches) will be holding another Coaching afternoon on Friday April 25^th April at Portslade Sports Centre.  Booking forms will be available soon and further information can be obtained from Jason on 01273 388876 or 07740423870.

They will also be holding a Summer Training Camp at Portslade Sports Centre from Monday 11^th August to Friday 15^th August.  Further details will follow.  Numbers will be strictly limited for both courses.

WCS Assessment Days 30^th March and 27^th April

Congratulations to Robert Tring (aged 10) who has been selected for the above.  Robert also won his first singles silver medal at the ESBA Under 11 at Slough in February, this was also his first ESBA under 11 tournament.  Robert is a very exciting future Sussex prospect.

ICT Team Announcement

The Inter County Tournament will be held at Nottingham University on the 14^th - 17^th April. This is the biggest Under 17 County date in the season calendar, it is also the watershed from junior County matches to senior, it is the last major junior county tournament for the under 17's.  Our team this year will be:-

Lauren Holness

Joanne Millward

Heather Olver

Felicity Porter

Kirsten Read

David Askey

Matthew Askey

Dean George

Luke Jones

Andrew Thomas

Good Luck to the team and mangers Terry Bagwell and Jo Floyd.

Scorers for the Grand Slam

Scorers and moppers are needed for the Grand Slam at Burgess Hill on Saturday 12^th and Sunday 13^th April.  Please contact Sue Fraser for further details 01825 722984.

Lastly…..

Congratulations to Luke Thomson and Bronwyn Powell for being selected for their second International in Denmark at Easter. 

And congratulations to Kimberley George for being selected for her first International in Belgium also at Easter.  Kimberley will travel to this tournament on her birthday Friday 18^th April.

Next Issue

ICT report,  Under 13 and Under 15 Team Challenge reports, Under 13 Nationals, and final positions of our under 13, 15 and 17 teams in the Shires League.