The 2026 NSW Regional Teams Challenge sponsored(comepletely FREE for NSW affiliated regional clubs and associations) by Badminton NSW was a great success with a great atmosphere this weekend in Newcastle. The mood was light and there was a lot of friendly banter on court besides many competitive, hard fought matches. This year had the largest number of female players (22) competing which was very encouraging in all the teams entered.
We all love badminton, we love comps and we enjoy the fellowship that comes with that amongst the various groups participating with debutants Illawarra Badminton and Blue Mountains Badminton Clubs.
We all enjoyed a Buffet Dinner at the Mayfield MEX Club on Saturday night. Alpha Badminton donated Kawasaki gifts and lucky draw
prizes. The players voted and awarded the Sportsmanship Team Award to the Blue Mountains team.
A shout out to Carolyn still assisting with the organising at various regional locations by rotation in her 15 th consecutive year beginning in 2012 in UNE Armidale. Great she had Keith and Stephanie helping out with the biggest turnout with 16 teams split to Competitive and Social Divisions using 8 Badminton courts this year at Newcastle University Sports Forum.
It would be logical to host next year’s Regional Teams Challenge in Sydney which is most central at the Alpha Auburn Badminton Centre with 22 courts with flexibility. The South Coast Shuttlers, ShoalHaven and Orange Badminton Clubs can travel and join the competition besides the core Northern regional clubs.
The results are as follows.
Competitive Division 1
Winners: Tamworth C1 – Aimen,Theo, Sameer, Yemima, Jason
Runners Up: Hunter C2 – Anshuman Sharma, Shaozhe Lim, Sumarsono Liang, Charmaine Teh
Competitive Division 2
Winners: Central Coast C1 – JD, Beth, Alex, Marilou
Runners Up: Central Coast C2 – Evan, Ben, Pavel, Sarah
Social Division 1
Winners: Hunter S2 – Jerry Yeow, Benjamin Hong, Matthew Duncan Nagy, Nino Rogliani
Runners Up: Coffs Harbour S2 – James, Pauline, Kui Noi, Medalene, Pup
Social Division 2
Winners: Tamworth S1 – Owen, Patrick, Edward, Annisa, Michael
Runners Up: Central Coast S1 – Brad, Sam, Annie, Erna
2026 Northen NSW Regional Team Challenge Shield Winners: Tamworth Badminton Club
