Nadeem Dalvi, Zach Russ, Lisa Curtin and Sian Kelly were among the impressive English performers at the 2025 Slovenian Open.
Dalvi reached the quarter-final of the men’s singles before falling to Ting Yen-Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-11 21-11 while the duo of Curtin and Kelly bowed out at the same stage of the women’s doubles with a 21-5 21-11 defeat to Indonesia’s Velisha Christina and Az Zahra Ditya Ramadhani.
It was the same story in the men’s doubles, where Zach Russ, partnered with Denmark’s Jeppe Søby, lost out to Indonesia’s Jonathan Farrell Gosal and Adrian Pratama in the quarter-finals.
Dalvi began his campaign in the men’s singles with victory over Italy’s Enrico Baroni before outlasting Singaporean Jia Wei Joel Koh in a back-and-forth battle.
After a 25-23 defeat in the first game, Dalvi rallied to take the next two 23-21 21-18 to confirm his passage to the last eight before bowing out to Ting.
Curtin and Kelly opened their tournament by easing past Poland’s Amelia and Marie Kisiel 21-8 21-14 ahead of a 21-9 21-19 win over Italians Martina Corsini and Emma Piccinin to reach the next stage, where their run was ended by Christina and Ramadhani.
Back in the men’s doubles, Robin Harper and Harry Wakefield reached the last 16 before a 21-17 24-22 loss to Russ and Søby.
And the pairing of Oliver Butler and Samuel Jones, along with the duo of Ho Fung Sze and Wang Yuehang, reached the same stage.
Butler and Jones were beaten 21-16 21-16 by eventual champions Huang Tsung-I and Ling Ting-Yu of Chinese Taipei while Ho and Wang went down 21-17 21-11 by Malaysia’s Loh Ziheng and Tan Zi Yang.
Butler went onto reach the round of 32 alongside Abbygael Harris in the mixed doubles, with Harper emulating the feat alongside Kelly.
Freya Redfearn was the pick of English performances in the women’s singles after reaching the round of 32, where she was defeated by India’s Yashvi Bhat.
Badminton England have announced exciting new plans to expand the role of a current strength and conditioning (S&C) coach for the benefit of those engaging with the England Junior Performance Programme (EJPP).
As of the beginning of April, Kathryn Canham, the England Junior Performance S&C coach, began working with the governing body three days a week in a consultancy role for the next year. The role was previously based purely at Training Camps and one day a month on administration of remote programmes.
The increased scope of Kathryn’s position will see her offer additional support within the National Badminton Centre (NBC) to junior players, as well as writing and developing a new S&C strategy for the EJPP.
The aim of the new strategy is to be not only effective but sustainable too, meaning it can support access to badminton specific physical training across the country.
Kathryn, who has worked alongside Badminton England for the past two years, will also continue with her current role with both the S&C junior programme and the remote S&C programme, and attend all junior camps from U13 to U19.
“It is really exciting,” said Kathryn. “I see my role as trying to produce not just really good badminton players, but really good athletes, who are then going to be prepared to go into full-time training and become elite badminton players.
“Our focus is to make the transition from juniors to seniors as easy and as smooth as possible and the feedback we have got from the past couple of years is that is where the struggle has been.
“So, I see my role as trying to bridge that gap and to keep players vying for those top spots in the sport because that is the way we are going to produce the best badminton players.”
Another part of Kathryn’s work will see her reflecting on and utilising existing research on the effects of maturation – which involves looking at methods employed by other top badminton nations and sports – in a bid to ensure England remain competitive at the top of the sport.
“I am most excited about being able to have an impact,” Kathryn continued.
“I have got to know most of the children currently engaging with the England Junior Programme and I can see some of that impact already in some of the testing data I have collected.
“It is exciting to see where that impact could go now that I have increased my hours.
“There has already been a lot of research in football, basketball and rugby on this topic, so by being able to apply certain parts of that to our sport, it means we can keep on top of things without waiting for badminton-specific research to come out, which can take longer to produce.”
As part of developing the strategy over the next few months, questionnaires will be sent out to coaches and players on the Membership database to see what their views on physical training and S&C development look like, while Kathryn and the team will also be talking to a number of badminton training academies and coaches in order to extrapolate on their work too.
The aim is to be able to provide practical help for those using or wishing to utilise S&C programmes and physical training.
This could range from input into coach education, resources, assistance with delivery, upskilling of coaches, training guides and S&C coach masterclasses.
Nikki Tarrant, Badminton England’s EJP Programme Manager, said: “It is great to have Kathryn with us in an increased capacity and we are looking forward to her getting started.
“Physicality is one of our main areas of focus throughout our Performance Programmes and one we want to try and further enhance throughout the Badminton England Network.”
England’s run at the Sudirman Cup ended at the group stage after a trio of tough tests against Indonesia, Denmark and India in Xiamen.
Drawn into Group D, England began their campaign with a 5-0 loss to Indonesia before falling to Denmark by the same scoreline.
England’s opening two defeats, combined with results elsewhere, meant that Indonesia and Denmark both progressed to the next round of the tournament.
This left England with a final fixture against India, where they battled to a narrow 3-2 defeat.
The opening fixture saw Rory Easton and Alex Green defeated 21-11 21-11 by two-time world bronze medallists Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
bbygael Harris and Lizzie Tolman then lost 21-8 21-13 to Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi before Nadeem Dalvi and Freya Redfearn lost their singles matches.
Indonesia rounded off with a 21-15 15-21 21-19 mixed doubles victory for Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari over Callum Hemming and Estelle van Leeuwen.
Denmark then repeated the feat to ensure their progression before England gained a foothold in the final fixture against Italy.
India took the first two matches after Anupama Upadhyaya overcame Kirby Ngan 21-12 21-16 in the women’s singles and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran beat Harry Huan 18-21 22-20 21-13 in the men’s singles.
The next encounter saw India clinch victory in the five-match tie after Lizzie Tolman and Estelle van Leeuwen fell to a close-fought 21-17 21-17 defeat to Shruti Mishra and Tanisha Crasto.
Facing the prospect of a third consecutive shutout, England rallied to hand India a first defeat of the day when Rory Easton and Alex Green outgunned Hariharan Amsakarunan and Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi in the men’s doubles.
Easton and Green won the first game 21-14 and though they lost the second 21-11, the duo battled back to win the decider 21-13.
It was a similar story in the last match of the day, with the pair of Callum Hemming and Estelle van Leeuwen emerging victorious in the mixed doubles against Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Crasto.
Despite falling in the first game 21-11, Hemming and Van Leeuwen roared back to win the second 21-13 before clinching the decider 24-22.
Badminton England’s U17 stars proved that age is just a number as they struck silver at the U19 Cyprus Junior this month.
Youngsters toppling older age groups was a running theme throughout April, with George Clare and Sajan Senthuran leading the way in Nicosia.
England took an U17 team to compete at various events throughout the month, bringing home one silver and a bronze at the Cyprus event as Clare and Senthuran clinched men’s doubles silver.
An incredible run of results took the duo into the final, where they put up a fight but were ultimately forced to settle for silver in a 21-10 21-7 defeat to Lukas Thor and Vojtech Strejcek from the Czech Republic.
The English pair were joined on the podium by teammates Yixiang Hou and Jasper Wong, who picked up bronze as Shraddha Gopalakrishnan and Martha Ng finished third in the women’s doubles.
There was a similarly strong showing for English youngsters at the U19 FORZA Alpes International, with a mix of U17 and U19 players attending the event.
The women’s doubles contenders led the way, with Mia Fox and Rajvi Parab alongside Lucy Brierley and Lucy Dodd all reaching the quarter-finals.
A team of U14 and U13 athletes took on the U15 Home Countries Quadrangular in Glasgow, with a clean sweep of medals ensuring a wave of success.
The team took home gold in the team event as Michelle Chen, one of the youngest players in the squad, went undefeated in 10 games to get them over the line.
Chen went on to take women’s doubles victory alongside Mutiara Mandala individual event, as England clinched the crown in all five individual disciplines.
Alongside junior tournaments, the future stars of Badminton England were also treated to several national camps in April.
The U17 National Camp at Wycombe Badminton Centre saw athletes take part in fitness and jump testing, with different focuses for singles and doubles players , including being able to prolong rallies and creating space.
While at the U12 Camp at the National Badminton Centre, there was a key focus on stability and explosiveness during movements.
On the domestic circuit, April saw the county season draw to a close as Essex and Leicestershire secured promotion to the top division.
Back in March, Avon had been crowned Premiership Champions for the first time in their history, beating Surrey to the mark with a 7-4 victory.
But the conclusion of the regional season brought with it two new teams as Essex and Leicestershire added their names to the Premiership table for next season, finishing first and second in the Division One play-offs.
With the season having run from early November to the end of April, Essex sealed their promotion with an undefeated run in the finals, with Leicestershire also beating Suffolk and Middlesex to join them in the top flight.
The Masters County Championships concluded with a brilliant weekend of finals at the University of Birmingham.
The top four teams in each age group went head-to-head, with Yorkshire coming out on top in three of the eight age groups and taking the crown in the over 70s, over 60s and over 45s.
In the Shires League, the U17 competition wrapped up with Leicestershire named champions.
Following a strong third place showing in the U18 Inter County Tournament, it was a jubilant month for the likes of U19 Cyprus silver medallist Clare, who teamed up with fellow Leicestershire players Oliver Sewell, Lucas Staves and many more, to take on the two domestic competitions.
Paralympian Rachel Choong has expressed her pride after a new study by Women in Sport found that 80% of disabled girls were inspired by the 2024 Paralympic Games.
Choong praised Badminton England’s commitment to helping disabled people get involved in sport, despite the study also showing that access and inclusion to sport still lags behind the visibility at the elite end.
The study found that while 67% of disabled girls said that the Paralympics “made me want to be more active and play more sport”, only 36% of disabled girls dream of reaching the top.
That compares to 61% of disabled boys who dream of reaching the elite level, a similar gender disparity to non-disabled children (39% of non-disabled girls compared to 64% of non-disabled boys).
Choong feels privileged to be part of a generation of para athletes working to change those figures by providing representation at the elite level.
“It makes me feel so proud that I can be a part of that. I can be part of this generation of athletes that are inspiring disabled people into sport,” she reflected.
“As athletes, we are quite selfish in the sense that we want to achieve these incredible things, and we’re very selfish in how we try to get there.
“But knowing that what we’re doing is inspiring people to participate in sport is a very lovely positive to come from it, which doesn’t feel so selfish.
“It’s disappointing to hear that [there is a gender disparity]. I hope that the more disabled girls can see what they can achieve on the telly or in the news, I hope it does shift.
“I would like to see that gap between the boys and the girls close a little bit.”
Rachel Choong competes at the Paris 2024 Paralympics (Credit: Craig Burgess/Badminton Photo)
Choong herself first started playing badminton at six years old, following in the footsteps of her parents and sister who were keen players themselves.
She felt lucky to have received that support in sport at a young age and to be encouraged to pursue badminton.
“They wanted me to get stuck in,” recalled Choong.
“At that age, I was a lot smaller than my peers but there was just so much encouragement from my coach and my family, and I just loved it so much that I just wanted to play.”
Though as Choong progressed in the game, she did find barriers to reaching the top level with a lack of pathway for para athletes to reach the elite level.
Women in Sport found that accessibility remains an issue across all sport with 44% of disabled girls saying there are not enough local opportunities for them, compared to 35% of disabled boys.
“When I started, there was no funding, there was no support, there was no structure, and it was all ourselves that were doing it. That was difficult,” explained Choong.
“I had to get a full-time job in the working world to help fund my badminton, which was essentially a hobby.
“I had to take time off work for tournaments. I couldn’t take time off to actually train because I’d used all my annual leave. It was a very tricky balancing act, but it’s nice to see that now there is a pathway.”
Badminton England are at the forefront of efforts to change these statistics and are intent on improving accessibility through their Disability Action Plan, which is focused on increasing the number of disabled people playing badminton.
It means there is now a strong pathway for para badminton players to progress while Badminton England also work to embed inclusive practice throughout the sport.
Those efforts are clearly visible to the likes of Choong, who knows the importance of having coaches who understand and can provide support for disabled athletes.
“Badminton England are doing a fantastic job at understanding the importance of getting disabled people involved in sports,” she said.
“It’s great that they are really pushing to educate coaches so that more local clubs can involve disabled people in the sport.
“I was lucky to have a coach that didn’t see my disability as a barrier to me when I was getting involved. That was massive for me.
“It’s all about coaches and people being adaptable to make sessions more inclusive for disabled people. Badminton England understand that.
“The more we do that, the more we promote our sport and our para athletes, the more disabled people come to our sport.
“Since Tokyo 2020, it’s really taken off. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
Featured photo credit: Craig Burgess/Badminton Photo
A local badminton centre in the north of England is excited to expand a new badminton scheme aimed at care home residents.
TynesideBadminton Centre (TBC), based in Newcastle, launched their Sit & Hit initiative earlier this year and after a successful pilot at Eothen Homes in Gosforth, now want to roll out the program to six more care homes.
The scheme will see up to three TBC staff go into the living facilities for an hour every week, for six weeks, to oversee residents using badminton racquets and balloons to get active and to socialise.
Joe Robinson, development officer for both TBC and Northumberland Badminton Association, and one of the scheme’s founders, explained his happiness at the project’s progress and what sparked him to push it into fruition.
He said: “I am very proud with how far it has come.
“Myself, Amy [Kirsopp] and Sarah [Burtenshaw], we have all said it is the most heartwarming hour of our week because every time we go in, we see people smiling who maybe do not smile that often and having a good time.
“A lot of them sit in their rooms or chairs with very few visits from family members so the scheme is about giving them an environment to enjoy.
“We went in with the intention of it not being competitive, for it just to be fun and social but it can get quite intense, some people like to hit the balloons really hard!
“The scheme came about through conversations with colleagues who had family members in care homes and how unfulfilling their lives had become and that they were looking for something to do.
“It is a bit of a sad story, so I just wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.
“It gives them the opportunity to spend time with others outside of the four walls of their room.
“We have residents tell us that it has helped ease their arthritis in their hands so that is just some of the positive news we like to hear.”
TBC have also secured funding to the tune of £500 from a local charity which will go towards buying equipment packs to leave in the care homes once the six-week program has finished.
The aim is that residents can then continue to play badminton as they will have access to the racquets and balloons required to play.
Facility manager at TBC, Amy Kirsopp, who is part of the group, alongside Joe and Sarah Burtenshaw, who goes into the care homes, explained how the scheme could also benefit residents not just physically but mentally too – highlighting links between sport helping with regressive illnesses such as dementia.
She said: “There are so many links that you hear about between sport and dementia, and because we have the ability to deliver sport to older people, it helps with that element too.
“Because whether or not we know the participant has it, we are still potentially helping somebody through sport, so that is what sparked the initiative for us.
“Sometimes, people see others as not physically able to do sport and often that is not the case, so it is nice to prove that people do not need to be written off.
“From our point of view, it is lovely to see people doing something they otherwise would not be doing if it was not for us putting it in front of them.
“The reaction from the residents and their family members has been great. On a couple of occasions, visitors have had to wait for them to finish the session because they were enjoying it so much!”
As part of our ongoing partnership with Babolat, we are excited to announce the introduction of a new competition coming this Summer, the ‘Babolat Circuit Championships’.
This event will build on the existing circuit competition structure and provide an exciting new event aimed at senior circuit players, aged 16+ and graded E and below to compete alongside players of the same grade in the atmosphere of a big tournament.
Winners of the new Circuit Championships will be invited to then represent Badminton England in the 4-Nations Graded International Tournament on 9th -10th August in Ireland.
Head of Competition at Badminton England, Mark Downie, said: “At Badminton England, one of our core strategic aims is to create more opportunities for our members to play competitive badminton.
“Our continued partnership with Babolat is integral to striving to meet those aims and we are looking forward to this new competition generating more interest for those players who compete regularly on the tournament circuit.”
The event will be held at the University of Nottingham, one of the largest sports halls in the country, across all 20 courts on Saturday 21st June and Sunday 22nd June.
Players that have played in a minimum of three circuit tournaments in the last 12 months of the event will be eligible to enter. Find out more and enter online .
A record number of adults participated in badminton last year, according to new data released by Sport England.
Figures from the latest Active Lives report indicates that 810,000 people played badminton regularly (twice in the last 28 days) between November 2023 and November 2024 – a 6% increase from the figure of 762,900 recorded from the previous year and the highest recorded since between November 2017 and November 18.
Badminton England is on a mission to encourage more people to return to court and initiatives like No Strings Badminton (NSB) and its new junior participation programme, Shuttle Stars, have been designed to create low-cost, fun and friendly environments where everyone can practice and play at their own pace.
The governing body’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy and Commonwealth Games Legacy project has continued to be a success, with participation levels among both sexes increasing compared to last year.
The figures show a 12% year on year increase for female participation, rising from 284,200 to 317,700 and a 3% year on year increase for male participation, ascending from 474,100 to 486,700.
The data backs the wider findings from Sport England that sport activity numbers are continuing their recovery to pre-Covid participation levels.
In September 2023, Badminton England launched Badminton – A Sport for Everyone, a 10-year strategy for badminton in England.
Now in its second year of operation, the strategy has already borne fruit and Badminton England remains committed to ensuring the sport remains open, accessible and inclusive to all.
Robin Harper and Harry Wakefield were the pick of the performances after reaching the men’s doubles final of the Malta International 2025.
The duo fell to Chen Sheng Fa and Lu Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-14 21-7 in the showpiece but will take heart from their performances in Cospicua.
The pair did not drop a game en route to the final, defeating France’s Maxime Leveque and Quentin Vincent 21-16 21-17 while fellow Englishmen Yue Chern Chua and Rowan Clark fell to the duo from Chinese Taipei 21-11 21-14 in the last four.
Over in the men’s singles, Cholan Kayan flew the English flag with a run to the final four.
Kayan’s campaign started with a comfortable 21-13 21-11 victory over Denmark’s Mathias Solgaard in the round of 32 before getting past Solgaard’s fellow Dane Søren Hald 21-14 21-19 in the next stage.
The quarter-final saw Kayan ease past Poland’s Mateusz Danielak 21-13 21-16 before his progress was checked by Danielak’s compatriot Dominik Kwinta.
After dropping the first game 21-13, Kayan battled back 26-24 to set up a decider but narrowly fell short, losing out 21-19 to the Pole in 74 minutes.
While in the mixed doubles, Harry Goode and Natasha Lado lost out in an epic against the Netherlands’ Szymon Slepecki and Anastasia Khomich in the round of 16.
Goode and Lado battled back 30-29 in an end-to-end second game after losing the first 21-19 but fell short against the Dutch duo in the decider 21-15.
Luke Salwey and Chloe Dennis made it one step further with defeat in the last eight after a hard-fought 21-16 21-17 loss to Louis Lefevre and Carla Martinez of France.
And in the women’s doubles, England’s Lisa Curtin reached the quarter finals partnered with Wales’ Saffron Morris before succumbing to the Polish pairing of Khomich and Ulyana Volksaya.
After dropping the first game 21-17, Curtin and Morris replied back with a 21-16 success in the second before losing the decider 21-12.
It was a similar story for Dennis and Lado, who narrowly fell short against Mathilde Slotsager and Lærke Wiktoria Wendel of Denmark in the last 16.
The English pairing won the first game 21-18 before dropping the second 23-21 ahead of a back-and-forth battle in the decider, ultimately losing out 21-19.
Hertfordshire completed an emotional return to the top step of the U18 Inter County Tournament podium after a 28-year wait.
Having not won the event for nearly three decades, it was a memorable Easter weekend for all involved as they sealed the deal with a 7-3 win over Yorkshire in their final match.
After featuring in the last Hertfordshire team to win the ICT back in 1997, team manager Kelly Risley struggled to contain her delight at watching her side reclaim the trophy.
She said: “We’re over the moon, really chuffed with the final result and it’s been a great four days for us.
“We’ve won pretty convincingly in the first few days and we only dropped two games leading into the final.
“We were confident going into it but we knew it was going to be tough.
“Everyone has performed really well and we’ve had a great four days so we’re really pleased.
“The players have made us so proud because they really have put out a big effort over the four days.
“For a lot of them, it’s their last ICT and we knew we had a good team and they’re delighted with how they’ve played.”
Leicestershire took home the bronze medal as they rounded out their campaign with a 6-4 win over Buckinghamshire as 29 counties went head-to-head in a battle for the title in Nottingham.
In the final, Jaxon Clarke and Anna Stewart got things off to a flying start for Hertfordshire with an emphatic mixed doubles victory before Yorkshire tied the scores with a mixed doubles win of their own.
It was also one apiece in the open singles, before Aahna Bhatia and Aditi Dhelaria punched their side ahead, coming out on top in three games to win both women’s singles match-ups.
With the youngsters also winning their respective doubles games and Clarke teaming up with Jeff Ani Joseph for an open doubles triumph, it meant that Hertfordshire clinched a brilliant gold as Yorkshire upgraded last year’s bronze for silver.
A tense battle for bronze ensured that every point mattered between Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire.
The East Midlands team squeezed onto the podium, winning just 18 more points than their opposition in a thrilling battle that showcased everything that the Inter County Tournament is about.
Warwickshire finished fifth, with defending champions Leinster in sixth, Middlesex in seventh and Surrey rounding out the top eight.
