Colchester & East Essex Badminton Federation
Welcome to our website. We hope you will find something of interest; visit the clubs page if you are looking to play more badminton by joining a local club or check out the League Tables to see where your club lies.
Competitive players will find a list of badminton tournaments within easy reach of Colchester listed on the right.
We hope to cover all the badminton activities in the area. Please send us your local badminton news - details on the Contact Us page.
Coaching Bursaries Available
Posted by Simon Gilhooly
Active Essex, the new name for Sport Essex, are offering funding for anyone wishing to step up to gain their UKCC Level 2 coaching award. The bursary covers half the cost of the course / exam.
Whether you are coaching junior players or hoping to organise a session to recruit new members into your club this is a worthwhile course. Without new players our sport will whither and die.
Colchester Open Report
Posted by Simon Gilhooly
The 55th Colchester Open, held at the University of Essex on 31st March / 1st April, was, as always, a great success. A large entry, particularly in the Men's singles meant that tournament organiser John Stuck had his hands full but the games flowed and the finals were played at reasonable times.
A massive thank you to John for organising the event and to the University for allowing us to use their fantastic facility.
With a full 32 entries in the Men's singles there were some hard fought games but most of the seeded played advanced to the quarter-finals, only previous winner Daniel Eghan running into unexpected competition. The semi-finals were contested between defending champion George Isherwood vs Asif Quereshi and Dan Moss vs Basil Tallah. George and Basil prevailed and then fought out an epic three set final with George eventually prevailing to retain the cup.
In the Ladies singles University player 'Ging' Tanapat dominated proceedings only giving up a hand full of points all but was unable to double up in the Ladies doubles where defending champions Mandy Davies and Linzi Chatfield were again victorious.
The surprise package in the Men's Doubles were Paul Kirby and Mike Frost, the veterans knocking out two seeded pairs enroute to a semi final against Basil Tallah and Asif Quereshi. In the other half of the draw, late entrants Mark Law and Rudy Sartoto advanced to the final with a three set win over Dan's Hooper and Moss but the effort took its toll in the final where Basil and Asif held the upper hand throughout.
On Sunday the entry in Mixed Doubles and Veterans events were down due to badminton events elsewhere but there was enough entries to play the vets Mixed and Mens Doubles. In the Open draw Ging Tanapat and Craig Pilgrim played Adam Parr and partner in the final.
Essex County Teams in Action
Posted by Simon Gilhooly
The season is also coming to a close for Essex's representative sides. The Senior 1st team and 3rd team have both been relegated from their divisions but the 2nd did well. In the Masters (Veterans) section all the Essex teams were in action over the weekend and at least two qualified for the national finals in May.
See the Essex page for more detailed reports and links to tables.
Summer Singles Event
Posted by Simon Gilhooly
We are considering running a singles event during the school summer term (late April - July). This will be held on a Monday night from 8pm - 10pm at Stanway School.
Please contact me (simon.gilhooly@gmail.com) if you are interested in playing. The format is not fixed yet and will depend on the number of people interested in playing. There will be a small charge to cover the cost of shuttles and the hall.
Keeping YOU Informed
Posted by Simon Gilhooly
We do our best to advertise events such as the annual Colchester Open but it's amazing how many people still say "oh, I didn't know about ......" when I speak to them at matches.
Having upgraded the website our next initiative is to build a mailing list for everyone that plays or has an interest in badminton across the region. To join please complete the form to subscribe. The mailing list is managed using the industry leading MailChimp tool so your address is safe from spammers and you can easily leave the list if we got too boring. After giving your e-mail address and name you will receive an e-mail asking you to confirm that you wish to join - this is just to stop someone else subscribing on your behalf, which could get rather annoying!
I hope to have an e-mail go out through BADMINTON England to contact everyone on their database giving them the option of subscribing.
Final Month - All to Play For
Posted by Simon Gilhooly
As the season enters its final month many of the Division One titles remain up for grabs in one of the tightest finishes for years but most of the honours are settled in the lower Divisions.
All three Division One titles will be decided by results for Garrison and Stanway, with the Manningtree club holding the narrowest of advantages in the Mixed and Ladies. The 5th March is a big date in the diary as the two go head-to-head in both Ladies and Men's at Manningtree High School. Stanway A control their own destiny in the Men's competition requiring just a point to retain their lead but with a tough last game away at Invicta St. Paul they will be looking to settle things decisively.
Wix Men still look favourites to win Division Two but must win their three remaining games to shut out St. Mary Magdalen, Exiles are relegated. Division Three will go to St. Osyth A who have dominated the opposition. CORRECTION: Division Three has come down to a head-to-head shoot out between St. Osyth A and Fingringhoe; St. Osyth holding the advantage having only lost once through a concession to their closest rivals.
Ladies Division Two has been won by Monkwick St. Peters A and St. Osyth A have sown up the Mixed Division Two title - both teams are unbeaten this year.
Welfare Officer Training
Badminton England are putting on a Time to Listen course in Chelmsford on 18th February. This is an advanced course for club welfare officers that have previously taken the Safeguarding and Protecting Children course.
Colchester Open 2012
Update by Tournament Secretary, John Stuck
The 55th Colchester Open will be held on 30th March / 1st April 2012. Once again the University of Essex will host the tournament. Open Singles and Level Doubles will be played on the Saturday with Open Mixed and Masters events scheduled for the Sunday.
The entry form can be downloaded using the link below.
KO Cup Second Round
Update by Tournament Secretary, John Stuck
The first rounds of matches in this year's Knock Out Cup have been completed and notices sent out for the second round matches.