For the Keynsham Badminton Club's Silver Award click here...

Keynsham Junior Badminton Club received the Silver club award on Saturday morning. The presentation was made by John Edwards (BE SW Development Manager) to Gary MacDonald and Keynsham Juniors are the first Avon club to receive this award.

 

Olve Junior Badminton Tournament

 

Over the Easter weekend some of Avon's most experienced juniors (and parents) made the trip to Belgium to play in the Olve Junior Badminton Tournament. The tournament attracts national and regional teams from all over Europe and this year there were in excess of 270 players representing teams from Finland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Luxembourg, Israel, Cyprus, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, England and Wales.

 

The Team

Team Avon was represented by Sally Mortimer from the U11s squad, Ellen Marsh, Harri Mortimer and Will & Emily Hollis from the U15 age group and U17 players Ben Sanders and Steven Goodchild. Photos here...

 

The Journey

We met up on a gloriously sunny Friday morning at Dover, from where we sailed to Boulogne in France. Having said goodbye to Scott Horsnell and family (who inexplicably preferred the attractions of Disney Land Paris to the inside of a Belgian sports hall) we set off in a convoy of 5 cars, destination Bruges. Within 10 minutes we were in disarray with 2 families stuck in a long queue to pay for petrol they hadn't bought, and the others off exploring the Hypermarket parking facilities and/or the one-way road system. We could teach Mr Bean a thing or two about ineptitude!

 

Thanks to the wonders of mobile communications, we eventually all made it onto the motorway heading in the right direction.

 

After a short lunch/chocolate/beer/sightseeing stop in Bruges, it was on to the sports hall in Egedem near Antwerp. No problem this time - expert navigation from the Hollis & Sanders families took us straight to our destination. After a practice session and dinner we set out on the last leg of the journey to our accommodation at the local Youth Hostel (no, there is no age limit on who can use them!) We knew this was a tricky journey, but blind confidence won out over patience (we could have waited a few minutes and followed the bus.) Once again we found ourselves at the roadside huddled around a map. This time it was Viv who saved the day by spotting a landmark and 10 minutes later we were there. Team Avon 1 - French & Belgium Roads 3 ½ .

 

Day 1 - Singles

The tournament started on Saturday with singles. The event was organised as boxes of 3 players from which the top 2 went through to the knock out stage.

 

Ben was up against players from Belgium and France. He won one of his two matches but unfortunately his box finished in a 3-way tie, and he missed out on a place in the knock-outs on games difference. Steve also failed to progress to the KOs having lost to both his Spanish and French opponents.

 

There was better news in the U15 event, where all 4 players made it out of their box with one win and one defeat. Emily had a comfortable win against a girl from Holland, Harri beat a Spanish girl, Ellen won a very exciting 3-setter against a girl from Finland and Will pulled off an excellent victory against a boy from Luxembourg. Both Harri and Ellen fell in the first round of the knockouts, but Will and Emily progressed to the second round after excellent victories.

 

There were only 3 players in the U11 Girls Singles event which meant that Sally only had to finish in 2nd place to be sure of taking home a trophy, however she was up against good opposition from Belgium. Despite a brave effort she lost her first match against a bigger, stronger player. In the second match she played with great determination and took a well-deserved victory 21-19, 21-15. Mission accomplished - 2nd place and another trophy to add to the collection.

 

The Team Event - Day 1

Although the tournament is primarily an individual event, there is also a team competition that runs in parallel. Each win earns the team 2 points and the total points are divided by the number of players in the team to give a points-per-player score that is used to rank the teams.

 

A team from South East England who did not have enough players to be eligible for the team event asked to join forces with us, and so Harry Hacking from Sussex and Ralph & Angus Pederson from Middlesex became honorary members of Team Avon for the weekend.

 

We had set out with no great expectations, after all our selection criteria was not based on playing ability, but rather factors such as a willingness to spend the entire Easter weekend in a sports hall and/or getting lost. Our lowly expectations were met as we spent most of the day in the bottom 5 in the company of teams from Milton Keynes, Essex, Wales and the Czech Republic. Then, as the day wore on, a wonderful thing happened. We scanned the bottom 5….. no Team Avon, we scanned the next 5 up ……no Team Avon, the next 5…….still no Team Avon - maybe we'd been disqualified…..but no, there we were in 3rd place, with just a team from France (and a whole heap of points) separating us from the England team. OK, so it didn't last, by the end of the day we'd fallen to 6th - but still a great achievement.

 

Day 2 - Mixed & Level Doubles

So on to Day 2, Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny failed to find the Mortimer family, although I'm sure I txt'd him to let him know we'd be in Belgium….perhaps he got lost too….

 

Today was all about level doubles, mixed doubles and 2nd/3rd rounds of singles.

 

Sally partnered Angus Pederson and was entered in both the U13 and U11 mixed events. Their first match was against the eventual U13 finalists from Finland and it came as no surprise that they were out-played. However, it was a useful warm-up for the U11 event. As with the U11 Girls Singles, only 3 pairs had entered and so a top-two finishing position was a good bet. They played a pair that consisted of a very young-looking boy from France and the Belgian girl Sally had beaten in the singles. They played very well and won the match 21-16, 21-14. Another trophy to take home, but would they finish as winners or runners up - their second match was scheduled for the following day, so they wouldn't know until then.

 

In the U15 girls doubles Harri & Emily (aka Pepsi & Shirlie - the legendary Wham backing group) had high expectations as they know that if they play well they can beat just about anyone. Their first opponents were a very strong pair from Belgium and they needed to be at their best if they were to beat them. They started like Bats out of Hell and stormed through the first game taking it 21-11. The second game was much closer (we really should ban opposition coaches as they have a nasty knack of doing their job too well) but H&Em managed to hang on for a very impressive win.

 

Ellen partnered the girl from Finland whom she'd beaten in the singles. They were up against a Dutch pair and played brilliantly to take the first game 21-18. Although they continued to battle hard, their opponents came back and took the match in 3. (strike 2 to opposition coaches!)

 

ICT Result: Team Avon 8 - Dorset 2

At this point a quick change of subject - just heard from Nottingham that we've stuffed beaten Dorset 8-2 in the ICT. Fantastic result.

 

Back to the plot, U15 Boys Doubles

Will joined forces with a boy from the Czech Republic. Both boys gave 110% but their French opponents proved too strong.

 

Ben and Steve paired up in the U17 event where they played a very impressive pair from Belgium. Despite their best efforts they lost the match 21-16, 21-13. The opposition eventually progressed to the final, so it was unfortunate that the Avon boys had faced such a tough match in the first round.

 

In the mixed doubles Ellen partnered Will and played in the U15 event, while Emily/Ben and Harri/Steve took on the might of the U17s.

 

Ellen & Will were awesome in their match against a Spanish pair and were desperately unlucky to lose 23-21, 23-21.

 

Emily & Ben were also awesome in their match against a Belgian pair and were also desperately unlucky to lose, this time 21-19, 19-21, 21-16. Guess what, their opponents went on to win the event. Lesson 1: don't partner Ben in doubles events, or you will get a very difficult draw (I'm sure the same thing happened to Ben & Harri in the same tournament 2 years ago - will have to check up)

 

Not to be out-done, Harri & Steve continued the 'awesome' theme against a pair from Spain. Blinded by their opponents' luminous green shirts, they lost the first game 16-21, but then they weaved some sort of magic to take the next 2 games 21-17, 24-22. Don't think I'll ever work out how they managed to pull that one out of the bag!

 

So, I think we're at about 8pm Sunday evening now and all that's left is Harri & Steve in the U17 mixed QF and H&Ems in the U15 girls doubles QF (they had a bye in the previous round).

 

In the interest of diplomacy/saving space, I won't say anything about the mixed other than it wasn't as good as the previous game. The girls doubles, however is worthy of note. H&Em were up against a very strong team from France. Something very familiar about this one - they blitzed the first game taking it 21-14….. opposition coach said something to opposition…… opposition come back strongly. Only difference this time was that H&Ems couldn't finish it off in time and lost the next two games 21-15, 21-16. (strike 3 to opposition coaches)

 

Team Event - Day 2

Hanging on to 7th position

 

Day 3 - The 'business end' (and touristy stuff)

With only Sally making it through to Day 3, Team Avon became Team Absent as the pull of wandering around the beautiful town of Ghent in glorious sunshine was too much for most to resist. So after a well-deserved lie in Mum, Dad & Sally returned to the sports centre (no problem finding it now I'd drawn a map) while everyone else went off to Ghent.

 

Sally & Angus played their second match in the U11 mixed. They were up for most of the first game, but a change of tactics from their opponents (you've guessed it - after advice from the opposition coach) helped the Belgian pair claw their way back and they won the match 21-18, 21-15. Still, another fantastic performance and a trophy to take away.

 

Team Event - Day 3

Slipped to 12th position….probably a good thing as there was no room in any of the cars for the cuddly elephant prizes…. but I'm sure we could have made room for the enormous Team Challenge Cup if we'd really had to….may have meant leaving one of the children behind, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good.

 

Belgian Pizza Hut

Being unadventurous types, the Hollis and Mortimer families spent the final evening in the local Pizza Hut. The Salad Bar was very different to back home with a fine selection of gherkins (Viv's favourite), feta cheese, apricots and other fruit and veg (some unrecognisable). However, the biggest mystery (and the one that raised the most laughs) was an item we found on the till receipt called 'Geen Slagroom' - no I'm not joking. Apparently we'd consumed 2 of these items.

 

Through a combination of my BlackBerry and Google, we quickly had a translation and the mystery was gone. Yes, OK we could just have asked the waiters who all spoke impeccable English, but I'm not sure I would have believed them. So what is Geen Slagroom…… not telling you, go look it up yourself!

 

Final Thoughts

The event was a fantastic success, due mainly to an immense amount of effort from a dedicated team of volunteer organisers. In 3 days, over 600 matches were played with hardly a glitch. The standard is roughly equivalent to Badminton England Silver and Gold events. So if you're comfortable at this level and fancy the chance to play against foreign opposition, why not give it a try.

 

Olve web site: http://home.scarlet.be/olvebadminton/

 

Olve Photos Monday 16 April 2007 Read full article...