What do you think of the new scoring system?

IBF has adopted the Rally Points scoring system on a trial basis for all IBF International Ranking Points tournaments from 1st February, 2006; however any tournament can try out the new system. The Saiqi Invitational in Yiyang is already applying this new system – please see IBF website for further details. When the IBF AGM is held in Japan next year, a final decision will be made if the new scoring system will be permanently applied.

Australia Day Doubles Tournament

The ACT Badminton Association will be running the Australia Day Doubles Tournament on Saturday 28 January 2006. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Level 1 (advanced) Badminton Coaching Course

NSW is again set to host a Level 1 (advanced) badminton coaching course as part of the Badminton Australia-National Coaching Accreditation Scheme program. The next workshop will be held on Sunday the 5th of February 2006, starting at 9.00am and finishing by 5.00pm. The venue is Hornsby PCYC (94 George Street - opposite Hornsby train station).

Important Notes: Interested participants should register their attendance by emailing Marianne prior to the 1st of January 2006. There will be Pre-Course and Post-Course worksheets to complete prior to attending, to allow for more interesting discussions and practical work during the session.

Current coaches and/or coaches who have expired accreditation are highly recommended to participate and/or present a topic as part of the updating process.

Fee structure for the workshop = $100 (Course fee & manuals) + $25 (2006 SBA membership). A further $40 fee will be required at the time of accreditation for a 4yr term.

A reminder that the final selection trial is scheduled on two Sundays, 4th Dec and 11th Dec in Homebush. The boys session will start from 3:00pm and the girls session will start from 4:30pm. I would suggest you should arrive 30 minutes earlier to warm-up and prepare yourself. For those who are not in the U17 Training Squad, please register your interest before 30 Nov and a fee of $10 will be charged per session.

Local athlete Stuart Gomez is in Malaysia with other Australian representatives Ashley Brehaut, Ross Smith and Glenn Warfe. They are competing in a Malaysian Satellite tournament in Alor Star. For the draw and further results, go to http://www.bam.org.my. Stuart won his first round match.

2006 Ausport Awards - less than 3 weeks to get your nominations in!

Please find information about the 2006 Australian Sports Awards. There is a lot of terrific work done in badminton at the club, association, State and National Levels. We need to recognise good practice and put our sport AND our sports women and sports men up in lights. See the links below for the information and nomination forms. Please advise us if you submit a nomination. Nominations close 2 December 2005.

The Ausport Awards are a fantastic way of recognising and rewarding good practice in the Australian sports system. They also act as a showcase for sports, organisations and individuals in the areas of:

*club development
*national sporting organisation achievements
*junior sport development
*school sport development
*rural and regional sport development
*providing sporting opportunities for women and girls
*coach development
*officials’ development.

The 2006 Ausport Awards will be presented at the Commonwealth International Sport Conference in Melbourne on Saturday 11 March. Finalists will be provided with complimentary registration and travel to the conference that runs from 9 – 12 March 2006. Nominate yourself or your organisation, or encourage others to nominate for the 2006 Ausport Awards.

For more information regarding the 2006 Ausport Awards, please visit the web site at www.ausport.gov.au/events/ausportawards2006, email ausportawards@ausport.gov.au or phone 1800 000 685.

2005 UNSW Summer Open Tournament

Please find attached the UNSW Summer Open tournament entry form for your participation as a player, court official or event personnel. The UNSWBC would be delighted to have as many as possible attend and would appreciate your registration a week before the tournament so the UNSWBC Committee can schedule courts and matches cost effectively.

Final Selection Trials for 2006 Under 17 Junior Team

The final selection trial will be held on 4th Dec and 11th Dec from 3pm to 6pm (Sydney Olympic Park). The team will travel to Perth to compete at the 2006 June Bevan Carnival and the Australasian Under 17 Championships. Any interested parties should contact Jerome Gomez (02 9456 4063) or Steve So (02 9354 7189).

Results from Sydney Juniors and Veterans Tournament Oct 8 & 9, 2005

Results for both events listed on this spreadsheet.

2006 Pan Pacific Masters Games

The Pan Pacific Masters Games is a biennial multi-sport event that has been held on the Gold Coast since 1996. The 2006 Games are to be held from 4 – 12 November, hosting close to 10,000 participants from all around the world and every state in Australia, competing in 40 sports on the Gold Coast. Sports include Badminton, field archery, swimming and a variety of team sports– catering for sporting enthusiasts from as young as 25 – 92years.

For more information on the games, please proceed to the official website.

Officials now listed!

Looking to source a coach or official for your club or competition? See the list on the new Officials link. Contact NSWBA should you wish to register as a coach or umpire too!

Proposed New Scoring System

The IBF is advocating the trial of rally point system and requesting feedback. Therefore, should NSW clubs and associations seek opportunities to trial the systems, please forward the questionaires to the BA Office where they will be compiled and passed on to IBF. Submissions close on the final week of November as it is expected that the IBF Council will consider the issue at its meeting in KL in December. Information and questionnaires are available at http://www.badminton.org.au

BADMINTON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005 - From the eyes of a line judge

The 2005 World Championships was held at Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, USA. This is the home of the Mighty Ducks – that is why it is called “Pond”. There is no water anywhere nearby. This is the team and grounds many have seen in the movie and the team is sponsored by Disney. Anaheim is the city of tourists as it is where Disneyland is situated and there are several theme parks here.

The Stadium is very large and security was really tight. Most of the Umpires and Line Judges were lucky as they were accommodated in a Hotel just across the road from the Stadium. The weather is fine but on the warm and humid side compared to Sydney. In fact there was no rain at all for the two weeks I’ve been here – and no water restrictions.

The tournament was played on five courts with one warm up court – all on taraflex mats laid on a sprung board timber platform. Organization was good and went like clockwork, though of course several matches took longer than expected - but these were really enjoyed. There was a very strong IBF presence and for a “non badminton country’ crowd attendance was very good. There were about 5000 spectators even on weekday afternoons and a lot of this might be due to publicity in the Chinese media which covered the tournament even with photo spreads in the local newspapers.

There was a draft of wind in the hall and there could have been several players who succumbed at least slightly to this. However the more experienced players were still able to have the control they needed and we witnessed excellent play. Many expected Lee Chong Wei to progress a little further but Taufik Hidayat showed his brilliance as the final winner. I believe the best four reached the mens singles semi finals but one person who lost in an early round to watch out for will be Poompat Sapkulchana – an excellent young player from Thailand.

The ladies singles was dominated by China but Kaori Mori from Japan and especially Shao-Chieh Cheng from Taipeh are certainly current threats to those on top. In the mens doubles, the United States pair of Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach rose above everyone else, maybe even to their own surprise. Somehow the mainstream press had very little coverage for a World Championship win by local players. From the cheering in the hall, it was obvious that USA had all the support they needed – and next came the Chinese players though Denmark had their own brand of cheering.

The ladies doubles was again dominated by the Chinese but when it came to the mixed there was a varied group which reached the last four. As an Australian, I was very proud that Daniel and Sara from NZ progressed steadily reaching this level; a great achievement for Oceania. They beat the Koreans and had to play against the Chinese, while the Indonesians came up against the pair from Thailand. The Indonesians managed to win.

There were about sixty lines persons and we were organized in groups of four for the first three days as we worked on all the five courts. Then the numbers were dropped back to forty – four groups of ten and for the finals dropped back to twenty (two groups) as only one court was being used. So many line judges were freed up to watch the matches or do their own thing. The way things were organized, everything ran very smoothly. At this tournament it was decided that there would be no rotation of the line judges during the 90 second or 5 minute breaks. It was felt that this might be too cumbersome to manage. Some matches took over an hour and the line judge had to stay on the same line.

A general information meeting was organized for umpires and line judges and this was presided over by Paisan with Torsten assisting. There was discussion about new scoring – to 21 rally points – and this will be tried out soon. There was also some discussion on how a line overrule should be made. Line judges were initially informed that the Umpire will ask for a confirmation of the call before overruling. However at this meeting it was decided that this did not seem appropriate and a request for confirmation could appear as a doubt in the Umpires mind. If an Umpire is sure, there should be a clear and direct overrule.

The entertainment during the breaks in the finals was varied and superbly fitness based. The rap dancing, gymnastic show by a few guys was breathtaking while the dancing by attractively clad young ladies got everyone talking about the dress that was appropriate for badminton players – especially our ladies. This even got some press releases by top IBF officials.

All in all it was an excellent experience, being here. Thanks to everyone in Badminton Australia.

Jerome Gomez

Invitation to Sydney Juniors and Veterans Tournament Oct 8 & 9, 2005

Please find attached 2 tournaments on the weekend of Oct 8 & 9, 2005 at Sydney Olympic Park.

The Veterans event is on Saturday 8 October, 2005 and the Juniors event on Sunday 9 October, 2005. There is a bulk entry form for Club coordinators.

The closing date for the tournaments is Monday 26 September, 2005. Please try your best to attend as officials, players or volunteer event managers.

Veterans Entry Form here.

Juniors Entry Form here.

Bulk Team Entry Form here.

Illawarra Individual Athlete Program Scholarships

Are you between 14-17 years of age?

Are you based in the Illawarra region?

Read on here.

The NSW Open Team

The following players have been selected to represent NSW at the Ede Clendinnen Shield and Australian Closed Championships this year:

Clement Chung, Danielle Durland, Steven Goh, Benjamin Gomez, Stuart Gomez, Della Leung, Marianne Loh, Vincent Ng, Eva Ratanasena, Catherine Tjoa

Good luck!

Results from the recently run NSW Open here.

2005 SBA SOP Challenge

Please find attached the entry form for the 2005 Sydney Badminton Association Sydney Olympic Park Challenge! Yes, it's a mouthful, but it is one of many exciting tournaments in Sydney! Please submit your entries in on time!

Upcoming Tournament Announcements

Please find attached the entry form for the 2005 AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS and the entry form for the 2005 AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL. Entries close Friday 19th August with Badminton Australia. Entry forms need to be signed by the State Association before being submitted to Badminton Australia . Entry is a compulsory requirement of the M2006, Reserve and Development National Squads. As the tournament is just prior to the Clendennin Shield, it is a great opportunity for players to participate in the Australian International, the Clendennin Shield and the Australian Closed Championships within a space of 10 days.

Please find attached the entry form for the QUEENSLAND OPEN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005. There are over $1200 worth of prizes on offer and there are also some incentive prizes available if you are playing AT LEAST 3 events and get your ENTRY AND PAYMENT IN BY TUESDAY 9 AUGUST 2005.