Victory for UL Badminton

On Monday (23/04/2012) night, the UL Badminton Grade 5 team took on Effin in an exciting battle to be crowned County League Champions. UL had overcome Trinity the previous week in some very close-fought games to progress to the final. Effin were 2-0 up after both singles games but UL fought back in the doubles with both games going to three sets. With the scores now tied at 2-2, it was all to play for in the mixed. UL triumphed in the first two mixed to win the final. They were then crowned Grade 5 Limerick League Champions. The victorious UL team were: James Power (Captain), Garvan Dunford, Harry Van Haaren, Michael Moore, Ciaran O’Connell, Bridie Welsh, Rachel Harrison, Aileen Madden and Caragh Lynch.

Team:

Back Row L-R James Power, Garvan Dunford, Michael Moore, Ciaran O'Connell, Harry Van Haaren.

Front Row L-R Rachel Harrison, Bridie Welsh, Caragh Lynch, Aileen Madden.

 

UL Badminton Achievements 2011/2012

During the academic year 2011-2012, the UL Badminton Club competed in the local Limerick League, the Irish Intervarsities, a number of International Student Badminton Tournaments (ISBT) and a few one day tournaments. Apart from the Intervarsities, all these tournaments are open to club, experienced and advanced level players.

The first win of the season came when the club entered a team into the Haynes Shield, which was held in the UL sports arena. This is a badminton competition for club teams in Munster. After a long days play UL were crowned Haynes Shield Winners. UL had to overcome strong competition from four other clubs competing for the title. The team entered was: Virge Pesti, Jana Sommer, Adeline Lecluse, Eoin Walsh, Andy Gordon, Albert Chui, Terence Wong and Sean Richmond.

In the Limerick league, the grade 4 team has reached the finals and the grade 5 team has reached the semi-finals (both still to be played at the time of writing). In the Limerick County Championships, Bridie Welsh won the grade 5 Ladies Singles; Rachel Harrison and Bridie Welsh won the grade 5 Ladies Doubles; Rachel Harrison and Garvan Dunford came runners up in the grade 5 Mixed Doubles; Egne Keke Õispuu won the grade 6 Ladies Singles; Chris Quill won the grade 4 Mens Singles; Virge Pesti won grade 3 Ladies Singles and Jenny Critchley came runner up; Virge Pesti and jenny Critchley won grade 3 Ladies Doubles; Virge Pesti and Fearghal Hughes won grade 3 Mixed Doubles; Albert Chui came runner up in grade 3 Mens Singles.

UL entered two teams in the Intervarsities held in Galway, UL B narrowly missed out in a quarter final spot for the Plate. The club entered three ISBTs this year and achieved success in all three. In the Limerick ISBT, Jana Sommer won the Ladies and Mixed Doubles in section A. In section B, Sean Richmond won Mens Singles and was runner up in Mens Doubles; Thomas Schaffer was runner up in Mens Singles; Denise Duggan won Ladies and Mixed Doubles. In section C, Rachel Harrison won Ladies Doubles and Caragh Lynch was runner up in Mixed Doubles. In section D, Trent Schalk won Mens Singles and Colm Cunniffe was runner up in Mixed Doubles.

Enschede in Holland was the home of the second ISBT attended. In section C, Rachel Harrison was runner up in Ladies Doubles, Helen Dempsey was runner up in Mixed Doubles and Harry Van Haaren won Mens Doubles. The next ISBT was held in Aberdeen. Here UL enjoyed many successes with almost all the team getting a medal. In section A, Damien Hehir was runner up in Mens Singles and Doubles. In section B, Chris Quill won Mens Doubles and was runner up in Mixed Doubles. In section C, Rachel Harrison and Aileen Madden won Ladies Doubles and Caragh Lynch was runner up; Rachel Harrison won Mixed Doubles and Aileen Madden was runner up; Don O’Flaherty won Mens singles and Ciaran O’Connell was runner up; David Hayes was runner up in Mens Doubles.

Also this year the UL Badminton club in collaboration with Limerick Sports Partnership piloted a Badminton Inclusions Program to train adults with intellectual disability. The program ran for three weeks during the months of March and April and was hosted in the UL Arena. Training took place on Thursday morning for one hour and participant attendance numbers peaked at 15 with four trainers from the UL Badminton club. This was an excellent opportunity for the club to contribute to the community and allow the volunterring members build on their training skills while the participancts benifted from experienced players instructing on Badminton technique.

Overall, the 2011-2012 season was very positive for the club and we hope to continue our winning ways next year.

Photographed:

Back Row L-R Ciaran O'Connell, Denise Duggan, Chris Quill, Rachel Harrison, Damian Hehir.

Front Row L-R Aileen Madden, Helen Dempsey, Caragh Lynch, Don O'Flaherty, David Hayes.

 

Intervarsities 2012

The weekend of the 9th-11th of March saw NUIG Galway host the 2012 Irish Badminton Intervarsities Tournament which saw 16 teams from all over the country representing their university in the competition.

This spectacular three day event began with a group stage, run on a round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the quarter finals for the cup on Saturday, with the two runners-up from each group going on to the quarter finals for the plate. UL had two teams entered in the competition. UL A progressed to the quarter finals for the cup, and UL B made it to the quarter finals of the plate. UL A were beaten by UCD 6-0 in the quarters and UL B were beaten by WIT 5-3 and therefore both were knocked out of the competition.

NUIG also had two teams in the competition and both the A and the B team made the finals of the competition. NUIG B won against Maynooth in the Plate final. NUIG A faced UCC the previous years winners. It was a thrilling final with games a number of extremely close games that could have gone either way. UCC emerged victorious and won 5-3. They were ecstatic to have successfully retained the cup and their captain gave an emotional speech at the prize giving ceremony.

It was a great weekend filled with lots of exciting badminton games and some good nights out too. Congratulations to NUIG on the excellent management and organisation that went into running such a great event and weekend.

 

Success for UL Badminton Club at ISBT

The UL Badminton Club took part in the Irish ISBT (International Student Badminton Tournament), over the October Bank Holiday Weekend 28th-31st of October, which was held in the UL Arena. Teams from all over Ireland, and some European teams competed in the event. UL had a team of 28 players, with many playing in their first ISBT.

Each Player competed in two of three categories, singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The strongest players were ranked A and less experienced players were ranked D. Double teams were formed randomly by the organising committee to encourage socialising. Each category first played in a round robin format and the top two players/teams of each category met in a final on Monday afternoon.

It was a very successful weekend for UL  being represented in ten of the seventeen finals on Monday afternoon. The team results are as follows:

Section A: Ladies Doubles Winner: Jana Sommer, Mixed Doubles Winner: Jana Sommer

Section B: Mens Singles Winner: Sean Richmond, Runner-Up: Thomas Schaffer. Mens Doubles Runner-Up: Sean Richmond. Ladies Doubles Winner: Denise Duggan. Mixed Doubles Winner: Denise Duggan.

Section C: Ladies Doubles Winner: Rachel Harrison. Mixed Doubles Runner-Up: Carragh Lynch

Section D: Mens Singles Winner: Trent Schalk. Mixed Doubles Runner-Up Colm Cunniffe.

UL also received prizes for the highest average game points scored in both the male and female category. The winners of these were Jana Sommer and Sean Richmond. UL also claimed second best team of the weekend.

While badminton was played during the day,players partied each evening. This years theme was ‘Horror’, so on Sunday night in the Sports Bar everyone was in fancy dress, ranging from ‘Disney Zombie Princesses to vampires and devils. A great weekend was had by all who took part.

UL Badminton Club had further success on the court on October 23rd, when they took part in the Haynes Shield, a badminton competition ran for club teams in Munster. After a long days play UL emerged victorious and took home the shield. Team: Jana Sommer, Virge Pesti, Adeline Lecluse, Eoin Walsh, Albert Chui, Andy Gordon, Sean Richmond and Terence Wong.

Next up for UL Badminton Club are the games in the Limerick League, where we have three teams competing, and we look forward to our next ISBT in Enschede over New Years. You can follow the clubs progress on our facebook page and website.

Natalie Brown P.R.O. UL Badminton Club

 

First Win of the Season For UL Badminton CLub

On Sunday October 23rd last UL badminton club entered a team into the Haynes Shield, which was held in the UL sports arena. This is a badminton competition for club teams in Munster. After a long days play UL were crowned Haynes Shield Winners. UL had to overcome strong competition from four other clubs competing for the title. This is the first silverware of the year for the club. Hopefully there will be many more UL victories in the coming year.

Team: Virge Pesti, Jana Sommer, Adeline Lecluse, Eoin Walsh, Andy Gordon, Albert Chui, Terence Wong and Sean Richmond.

Badminton Upcomming Events and Competitions - October 11th 2011

It is a busy time for UL badminton club, with many competitions now starting. The Irish ISBT (International Student Badminton Tournament) will be held in ULover the October bank holiday weekend, from Friday October 28th to Monday October 31st. Teams of people from a number of European countries will take part in this competition.

Each player will play in two of the three cateories; singles, mens/ladies doubles or mixed doubles. The competition is divided into four sections, with section A being for the strongest players and section D being for less experienced players.Double teams will beformed randomly by the organising committee to encourage socialising. After a long day’s badminton each day, there will be party each night. This is a great way to meet new people from colleges all over Europe. One of the highlights of the evening entertainment, will be the themed fancy dress party, with this year’s theme being “Horror”.

Every year UL Badminton enter league teams into the Limerick City and County leagues. This year we have entered teams in Grade 4, Grade 5 and Grade 6,  with Grade 4 being forintermediateplayers and Grade 6 for beginners. League matches for all teams will start on Tuesday 25th of October.

Badminton Ireland is holding National Badminton Week 2011 from the 15th to 23rd October as a kick off to the badminton season. During this time, all badminton clubs will be opening their doors to allow anyone interested in having a go to come and play.  Badminton is a sport for everyone regardless of age, ability or fitness level. UL Badminton Club are always looking for new people to join, so if you are interested please come along to the Arena on Mondays or Wednesdays from 9.15pm.  

 A reminder that people can support UL Badminton Club by buying a Clubs and Societies lotto ticket from anyone on the committee. The draw takes place once a fortnight,  tickets only cost €2 and you will be in with a chance to win a large sum of money, while also supporting your club.

 

Badminton Club Host Club Quiz Night - March 2011

The badminton club held its first ever quiz night on Thursday 24 March. Over 60 members and friends of the club gathered in the UL Sports Bar for this fundraiser. Fourteen teams took part in the friendly and fun filled competition. The organising committee lead by club vice chairperson Bridie Welsh, events officer Deidre Lynch and captain Colm Cunniffe made sure everything run smoothly. Division 6 team captain James Power played host and went very efficiently through the seven sets of ten questions: two general knowledge rounds, one science, one sport, one music/cinema, one TV and one geography and history round. Prizes were awarded to the two best teams overall, the team with the best name and two teams shared another prize for a perfect round of questions. The evening was real success with lots of fun and enjoyment. In total €250 were raised for the club. This would not have been possible without the support willingly given by many: the badminton club would like to thank all the people who have been involved in this event and the local businesses that sponsored the prizes:

• Fresh Dry cleaners & Launderette, New Town Annacotty,
• O’Connells Bar, Newton Annacotty,
• NewtownPharmacy, Annacotty,
• Storm Cinema, Castletroy,
• La Cuccina, University Court, Castletroy,
• Sports Bar, University of Limerick.

Their support was greatly appreciated and contributed greatly to the success of the evening.

Irish Badminton Intervarsities 2011

The weekend of 18-20 March saw the University of Limerick play host to the 2011 Irish Badminton Intervarsities Tournament which saw 13 teams from all four provinces representing their university in the competition.

This spectacular three day event began with a group stage, run on a round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the quarter-finals on Saturday along with the two best runners-up. The 1^st teams from University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin and University of Limerick each won their respective groups convincingly to progress to the quarter-final knockout stage where they were joined by NUIG, QUB , University of Ulster, DCU and the 2^nd UCC. The other 5 teams competed for the plate. This competition saw the 2^nd team from QUB, TCD, UL, RCSI and the 1^st team from RCSI play a round robin with QUB winning and TCD finishing as runners-up.

Unfortunately, UL narrowly lost at the quarter final stage and the final saw UCC overcome TCD in fantastic style on a scoreline of 6-2 in front of a crowd of over 100 people. The finals could be followed live on the badminton internet website (http://www.csn.ul.ie/~shuttle/) and videos of Sunday afternoon’s games will soon be available for viewing.

Overall this has been a great week end of badminton for the UL teams and the badminton club would like to thank all the participants and people involved in the organisation in particular Muriel Moles (tournament referee) and Ulster Bank for their generous sponsorship of the event.

Some of the Intervarsity team members

UL to Host National Badminton Competition

For the first time in six years, UL will be hosting the badminton inter-varsities competition which will take place in the Arena Sports Hall during the week end 18^th-20^th of March. The very best badminton players from all Irish universities take part in this annual tournament with 13 teams and over 130 students. Each team of 12, consisting of 6 men and 6 ladies, will compete to win the inter-varsity cup. Participating teams will include students from DCU, NUIG, NUIM, Queens University Belfast, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, TCD, UCC, UCD and University of Ulster Coleraine. Two teams under the direction of captains Damian Hehir (4^th year BSc Physiotherapy) and Richard McEvoy (PhD, Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering) will represent UL in the prestigious tournament to conquer a title that has been eluding UL since 2001.

Teams will be split in three groups and will face each team in their group in a round robin format. Each fixture will include 2 men’s doubles, 2 ladies doubles and three mixed doubles The first and second place in each group and the two highest runners-up from the groups shall proceed to the Cup Knockout (8 teams). The remaining teams in each group will proceed to the plate competition (5teams).

UL participants have been training very hard during the last few weeks under the skilful coaching of Eoin Walsh (1^st year BSc Physical Education). You are welcome to come to support the teams in the Arena during the tournament.

Meanwhile in the Limerick league, the two teams in the competition are in good position to reach the semi-final of their respective grades. Depending on the week, the grade 6 team (club level) lead by captain James Power (4^th year Aeronautical engineering) is performing well in what is turning out to be a tightly contested grade 6 league, with UL consistently placed in the op two. The grade 4 players with their captain James Scully (Graduate PhD, Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering) have also being consistently well, with their only two losses to date occurring against the strongest team in the competition and both times by the narrowest of margins. League games will continue until the end of March approximately. Semi-finals and finals are scheduled to take place at the beginning of April. You can follow the progress of the teams in the grid.

 

Irish ISBT held in UL

The UL badminton club co-organised the Irish ISBT (International Student Badminton Tournament) held in the Arena during the October bank holiday week end 22-25 October. Teams of people from various European countries (Ireland, Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK) took part in this competition. In total 182 players entered the various sections of the tournament. The UL badminton club lined up a 26 people strong team led by club chairperson Rachel Harrison (3rd year Maths and sciences).

Each Player competed in two of three categories, singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The strongest players were ranked A and less experienced players were ranked D. Double teams were formed randomly by the organising committee to encourage socialising. Each category first played in a round robin format and the top two players/teams of each category met in a final on Monday afternoon.

UL Badminton club chairperson, Rachel Harrisson was very satisfied with the team results: ‘we are delighted with the club performances at the ISBT: 26 people were in the team including 9 who joined the club in September. Events like the ISBT allow new members to fully integrate in the club and give them a taste of international competitions’

Team results:
Virge Pesti (non UL-student) was runner up in ladies’ doubles C.
Harry Van Haaren (2nd year Music Media and Performance Technology) was runner up in mixed doubles C.
Colm Cunniffe (Staff) was runner up in men’s doubles D.

Badminton was played during the day and players partied in the evenings. A myth, fairy tail and legends party was held Sunday evening in the Sports Bar. Most UL participants attended dressed as the Blues Brothers, Greek Gods and Goddesses, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland. Spirits were still very high the next morning and some players did not hesitate to come dressed up on the courts.

Chris Quill (1st year Construction Management and Engineering) fully grasped the spirit of the ISBT: ‘best week-end of my life. Enjoyed every minute of it (at least the ones I can remember…). It was great to meet new people and I am looking forward to the next ISBT’. Equally enthusiastic was Eoin Welsh (1st year PE and English teaching): ‘very impressed with the ISBT experience, especially talent both on and off the court’

The next big event for the UL badminton teams is the Limerick league that will be starting in the next few days. UL entered three teams at level, one in the strongest 2-3 category, one in the level 4 and one in the level 6 leagues. Matches are played on a home and away basis and will take place between the start of November and the end of March. You can follow the performances of the UL teams on the club website and in the grid.

Jean Charpin (jean.cahrpin@ul.ie) PRO Badminton club

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