Xmas Fun Night

The final club night of the year will be a fun session with everyone encouraged to play in fancy dress. Previous years have seen Santa Claus, Rudolph and traditional German Lederhosen! Let your imagination run free.

There's no sessions between Xmas and New Year so we restart in the usual pattern from Monday 10th January 2022.

Happy New Year!

Ladder Week 8

 These are the ladder positions after the final session before Xmas break, Simon wins the prize as top player and Raff for the most wins with 27.

Simon (25) Andrew B (14) Boris (18) Raff (27) Brian B (8) Trevor (24) James L (20) Cath (10) Martin H (10)  Mike M (11) Jim (7) Chris G (6)  Mike Y (6) Hugo (2) Michelle (3) Anuj (8)

Dane (9) Martin W (4) Luke S (19) Julia C (6) Nikith (5) Sarah A (7) Steve T (12) Jodie (2) Nathan (1) Frank (3) Julie Anne (0) Sam (8) MW (8) David P (3)  Alex M (3) Tom T (1)

The competition will resume in the New Year with new prizes available for the best climbers

Ladder Week 7

1. Andrew B (14)
2. Boris (18)
3. Raff (27)
4. Simon (20)
5. Trevor (24)
6. James L (20)
7. Cath (10)
8. Martin H (10) 
9. Mike M (11)
10. Jim (7)
11. Chris G (6) 
12. Mike Y (6)
13. Hugo (2)
14. Michelle (3) 
15. Anuj (8)
16. Dane (9)
17. Martin W (4) 
18. Sarah A (6)
19. Julia (6)
20. Luke S (16)
21. Brian B (5)
22. Steve T (12)
23. Jodie (2)
24. Nathan (1)
25. Frank (3)
26. Julie Anne (0)
27. Sam (8)
28. MW (8)

Ladder Week 6 - Raff hits the top spot

1. Raff (23)
2. Boris (13)
3. Simon (20)
4. Trevor (20)
5. Cath (9)
6. James L (14) 
7. Martin H (10)
8. Mike M (11)
9. Jim (7)
10. Chris G (6) 
11. Mike Y (6)
12. Hugo (2)
13. Michelle (3) 
14. Andrew (8)
15. Anuj (5)
16. Martin W (4)
17. Dane (6)
18. Julia (6)
19. Luke S (16)
20. Sarah A (3)
21. Jodie (2)
22. Nathan (1)
23. Steve T (9)
24. MW (7)
25. Julie Anne (0) 
26. Sam (5)

Ladder Week 5

1. Boris (13)
2. Simon (20)
3. Trevor (16)
4. Mike M (8)
5. James L (14)
6. Martin H (10)
7. Cath (5)
8. Mike Y (4)
9. Chris (6)
10. Raff (16)
11. Hugo (2)
12. Michelle (3)
13. Jim (2)
14. Andrew (8)
15. Martin W (4)
16. Dane (6)
17. Julia (6)
18. Luke S (12)
19. Sam (3)
20. Jodie (2)
21. Nathan (1)
22. Steve T (9)
23. MW (7)
24. Julie Anne (0)

The number in brackets after the name is the number of sets won; there is a prize for the most wins before Xmas.

Ladder Week 4

 It was great to have a full compliment of 15 players for the Ladder Night this evening. James L and Martin H gained the most places, leaping over a lot of absent players. 

After play the standings are now;

1. Simon (20)

2.Trevor (13)

3. Mike M (8)

4. James L (14)

5. Martin H (10)

6. Cath (2)

7. Boris (8)

8. Chris (6)

9. MW (7)

10. Hugo (2)

11. Michelle (3)

12. Jim (2)

13. Andrew (8)

14. Raff (12)

15. Dane (6)

16. Julia (6)

17. Luke S (12)

18. Sam (3)

19. Jodie (2)

20. Nathan (1)

21. Steve T (9)

22. Martin W (4)

23. Julie Anne (0)

Ladder Week 3

Boris & Raff gained the most places tonight in some very close groups. The latest positions are:

1. Simon (13)

2. Trevor (8)

3. MW (5)

4. Mike (5)

5. Cath (2)

6. Boris (8)

7. Chris (3)

8. Raff (8)

9. Hugo (2)

10. Michelle (3)

11. Jim (2)

12. Andrew (8)

13. Luke (9)

14. James L (7)

15. Sam (2)

16. Martin (5)

17. Steve T (5)

18. Jodie (2)

19. Nathan (1)

Ladder Positions

After the second round the standings are;

1. Trevor (5)

2. MW (5)

3. Simon (8)

4. Cath (2)

5. Mike M (2)

6. Chris (2)

7. Sam (2)

8.Hugo (2)

9. Michelle (3)

10. Jim (2)

11. Andrew (8)

12. Luke (5)

13. Raff (4)

14. Boris (4)

15. Steve T (2)

16. Martin H (2)

First Ladder Results

Simon & Luke both won 4 matches while everyone else recorded two wins. Points difference puts the initial standings as:

1. Simon

2. Luke

3. Cath

4. Mike

5. Chris

6. Sam

7. Hugo

New players will join at the bottom next week.

Session Bookings

Please continue to book onto sessions using PlayWaze if you are coming on Monday or Tuesday night.

Monday night is getting fully booked so act early to secure your place.

No badminton Tuesday

There's no badminton this Tuesday, we will be back on 6th July

Stanway is BACK!

 The club will be restarting on Monday 17th May.

All our sessions will now be at the new sports centre at Colchester Northern Gateway (map)

We are planning the following sessions through the summer:

• Monday nights - 7:30pm to 10pm
• Tuesday nights - 7:30pm to 10pm

All sessions will be organised into groups of up to six players a court who will play together for that evening. We will be organising some ladder competitions to introduce some internal competition and to help us work out the best groupings.

To participate you will need to use Playwaze to book your place and make payment. All sessions will be £8 a night.

European Championships 2021

Excellent coverage of the European Badminton Championships can be found at https://badmintoneurope.tv -- it's free to register and they are covering all the courts in High Definition.

English players are expected to be in the chase for medals in all the doubles events but sadly our prospects do not look strong in the singles. 

It's unlikely that any of the young, up-coming players will be able to upset top seeds Victor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen from Denmark. My money is on Antonsen to repeat his win in the recent Tour Finals. Remarkably it's possible, likely even, that the four semi-final places will all be taken by Danes as Vittinghus and Gemke have good draws. 

The women's singles is even easier to call with Carolina Marin being streets ahead of the pack, especially since #2 seed Mia Blichfeldt withdrew. Credit to Freya Redfern for progressing through the first round, another win would represent a good event for the top English player. 

Our medal prospects get stronger in the Mixed Doubles with Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith being #1 seeds. However Smith & Ellis are not in great form so French pair Gicquel and Delrue are my favourites with the Russians and Danes strong for the other semi final places. 

Sean Vendy and Ben Lane will be looking to continue their excellent recent results but face a tough top half draw while the other English pair, Ellis and Langridge, should progress to the semi-final for another battle with the Russian giants Ivanov and Sozanov. The top seeds from Denmark should be too quick (Astrup) and powerful (Rasmussen) for the rest and will probably collect gold. 

Possibly our best chance of a gold medal comes, unexpectedly, in the Women's Doubles; an event we have not been strong in for some considerable time. However Lauren Smith and Chloe Birch have improved considerably this season and if their attack is on song they could pose a problem for the Stoeva sisters from Bulgaria. 

What are your predictions? Let's see if you do any better than me: 

MS - Antonsen (Denmark) 

WS - Marin (Spain) 

MD - Astru & Rasmussen (Denmark) 

WD - Smith & Birch (England) 

XD - Gicquel & Delrue (France)