NEWS!!

BADMINTON boom time for East Staffs

East Staffs Badminton Development Group (ESBDG) is celebrating gaining privileged status within the sport in this country.  East Staffs has been named as one of the first ten accredited Performance Centres in the country by BADMINTON England, which means a windfall of £10,000 per year until 2011 to help with talent identification and development of players, on and off court, ultimately aiming to produce more players, like Tracy Hallam, capable of medal success. The centre will also continue to develop existing coaches and find new ones.

Sport England awarded BADMINTON England almost £2 million as part of a £3.5 million strategy to invest in clubs and coaches, via the Club Future programme.  The funding will enable BADMINTON England to establish a network of 50 Performance Centres across the country.

BADMINTON England Chief Executive Adrian Christy said of Club Future: "For me the challenge of the culture of the clubs is one of the most exciting.  It's where people start to play, where they continue a life-long experience, where they nurture talent, where coaches and volunteers are.  And this is where we should be embedding our competition".

"This is brilliant news for badminton in Burton, Uttoxeter and the whole of East Staffordshire," said Liam Rooney of East Staffs Borough Council Sports Development Team. "The award of Performance Centre status is a tremendous boost for the young players and coaches from Barton and Uttoxeter Premier Badminton Clubs which will create additional coaching opportunities for existing juniors from not just the established clubs but from the wider area and I look forward to us developing local stars of the future who can challenge for medals on the world stage."

The centre will officially open in September and further details will be provided soon. As well as the Performance Centre Coaching sessions there will also be a Junior and Senior Club (the existing GB Landscapes Club) at the Paulet High School which along with the other clubs in the area will welcome new players.

For more information about performance centres please contact Matt Hanson on 07825981924 or visit the BADMINTON England website at www.badmintonengland.co.uk

---

Success for Staffordshire at English National Championships

Staffordshire's Tracey Hallam picked up an unexpected doubles title at the English National Championships in Manchester. The commonwealth gold medallist, seeded number one in the ladies singles was unable to recapture the title she won in 2004 and 2006. Having beaten three times finalist Jill Pittard (Warwickshire) 21-18, 21-16 in the semi-final she was unable to match defending champion Elizabeth Cann (Middlesex) who came out on top 21-15, 21-19.

Hallam gained consolation for her singles loss in the ladies doubles where she won her first national doubles title in partnership with Donna Kellogg of Derbyshire. Hallam teamed up with Kellogg only at the last minute when the Derbyshire player's regular partner Gail Emms was forced to withdraw with flu.

In the final Hallam and Kellogg faced second seeds Joanne Nicholas (Lancashire) and Natalie Munt (Hertfordshire). They took an early lead in the first set but allowed their opponents to catch up and finally overtake them to win 24-22. The scratch pairing rallied to win the second 21-13 and never looked back as they took the final game 21-14.

More success for Staffordshire came in the Mixed Doubles where Matt Hanson partnering Caroline Westley (Essex) benefited from the withdrawal of Olympic silver medallists Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms in the top half of the draw by reaching the semi-finals.

An impressive two set quarter-final win against Graham Hurrell and Nicola Cerfontyne (Dorset) was followed with a semi-final defeat to the number four seeded pair of Robin Middleton (Yorkshire) and Liza Smith (Hertfordshire) 21-13, 21-10.

For full results and reports please visit www.nationalbadmintonchamps.co.uk

---

 London Awarded 2011 World Championships!!

BADMINTON England was celebrating today after London won the right to stage the World Individual Badminton Championships for the first time. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) awarded England the 19th World Championships and the event will come to the capital just a year before the 2012 Olympic Games in London. BADMINTON England Chief Executive Adrian Christy and David Hornby, Commercial Director for Events for London, were in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur yesterday to make the final bid presentation to the Council of the BWF - and today it proved to be a winner!

The bid has received strong financial backing from UK Sport's World Class Events Programme and has also been supported by the Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe MP, The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone and London 2012 Chairman Lord Coe.

A jubilant Christy said after learning the decision: "This is great news for badminton fans throughout Britain and just what the sport needs as we aim to raise its profile in the countdown to the London Olympics.

"I am determined to bring more big events to England and I am confident that I will be able to announce more good news for badminton fans early in the New Year.

"But winning the bid was the easy part. The hard work starts now as we aim to make this first World Badminton Championships to be held in London a worthy event in the build-up to the Olympic Games."

To read more visit www.badmintonengland.co.uk