A group of amateur Badminton players – who play with plastic / nylon shuttlecocks at Rushcliffe Arena Sports Hall – have been holding the most anticipated event in the club calendar; as a rule of thumb on the last weekend of March every year since March 2022.This year too an army of ‘racket wielding ninjas’ took over the Nottingham Trent University Clifton Sport Hub’s badminton courts. 17 Men’s doubles teams, 8 mixed doubles teams and 4 women’s doubles team took part in a round robin format totalling to 170 games played between 10am and 4pm of Easter Sunday 31 March 2024. After an exhausting effort the top 2 teams battled out for the winners’ trophies playing best of 3 games in the Final matches.
Ling and Layla were defeated by Prajakta and Bonnie in straight games by 21-10 and 21-18 in the Women’s Doubles category. Prajakta continued her winning run in the Mixed Doubles category too with playing partner Mayur and won against the pair of Oreshia and Mukesh with scores of 22-20 and 21-11. Mohan Ragu and Gautam – The top of the table in the Men’s Doubles category who had not lost a single game in the round robin format games – were defeated in a nail-biting finish by the local ‘Badminton Boys’ Jith and Sibi – again in straight sets 21-18 and 21-12.
The local famous ex-footballer François Zoko who is now ‘Head of Academy Coaching’ at Burton Albion Academy graced the presentation party included by the representatives of Badminton Shuttle Stars’ community partners -and non-profit organisation- Gujarat Samaj of Nottingham and Nottingham Tamil Kuzhumam (NTK). The participants were presented with a medal and Finalists were decorated with Winners and Runners Up trophies each.
The event was managed by a dedicated team of volunteers (names in alphabetical order) Arun, Bhagyesh, Kumanan, Madhuri, Priyatosh, Ravish, Shailesh, Sharat and Vineet lead by the Volunteer Trustees Nimesh (Volunteer Coach), Sundari and Nishit (Volunteer Coach). The participants, family, friends and supporters of Badminton Shuttle Stars Community Trust were extremely happy at the end of the day as they truly realised the motto in action that “Sport is for Everyone”. The members only WhatsApp group is heavily involved in promoting physical and mental fitness in adults and children alike via Badminton.
To view more photos and for the membership and participation info about regular playing sessions, Free Kids’ coaching sessions and other coaching sessions visit their website www.badmintonshuttlestars.org The Club is affiliated to Badminton England and a non-league unit.