Stowmarket Badminton Club held its thirteenth annual junior tournament recently with 94 players from eight different junior clubs/groups in various age groups from under-10 to under-16 taking part. The aim was to get young players from junior clubs or groups in the county to enter and this year was yet another great turnout. Throughout the day we had four courts filled with exciting matches which were just completed in the allotted time.

The support from families and friends was excellent with the balcony at Mid Suffolk Sports Centre overflowing with spectators. The honours across the age groups were well spread between the teams who entered which included Stowmarket, Ipswich YMCA, Abbeygate, Bosmere, Bury Academy, Claydon, Debenham and Newmarket B.C.

The winners of the various groups were:-

Under 10 - Jed Millin and Max Ling from Debenham. runners-up Lewis Hall and Charlie Corbyn from Stowmarket.

Under 12 - Harrison Day and Tom Warner from Abbeygate. runners-up Keira-Mae Croft and Krish Jain from YMCA.

Under 14 - Max Adderson & James Wing from Stowmarket. runners-up Dan Cook and Harry Plummer from YMCA.

Under 16 - Ben Ward & Sam Theaker from Abbeygate. runners-up Laurence Chappel and James Norburn from Abbeygate.

We were very lucky to have such excellent support from our senior members who assisted the club coaches on the day acting as umpires, scorers and cheerleaders.

The enthusiasm from the players and the backup from their parents was infectious and so encouraging for all the helpers making our commitment to organising and running a junior section, alongside our adult club, so worthwhile. As a consequence Stowmarket Badminton Club have also seen the whole club prosper with youngsters representing our own club, playing in local tournaments, attending county training and playing in county matches.

Saturday 30th March also saw the end of season in-house tournament. All 40 of the juniors took part in the fun tournament in teams of three, earning medals for the best team before all the juniors went home with an Easter egg for their efforts. A big thank-you to all the coaches and helpers who have volunteered their time throughout the year to keep the junior section going. Long may it last.

Finally, the end of season club tournaments brought together the majority of the club (plus invited guests) to take part in singles, handicapped doubles and mixed tournaments run over three Wednesdays in April. This year saw Isabel Lucas & Ryan Newcombe take the honours in the singles, Paul Adderson & Ryan Newcombe in the men’s doubles, Janine Simonds & Mary Haywood in the ladies’ doubles and Jo Marshall & Ryan Newcombe in the mixed doubles.

Andy Newcombe (Chairman, Stowmarket Badminton Club