It is arguably the greatest achievement anyone involved in sport can have in their career.  Most people who think of the Olympic Games would understandably think of the athletes.  But for every Olympic Sport and its competitors there are unseen members of the event who make sure everything runs smoothly and the competition is fair, the people at the forefront of every tough decision, the Officials, Umpires and Referees.  For Welsh Umpire Dave Davies (of Birchgrove, Swansea) come August 3rd he will be heading out to Beijing to take part in his 3rd Olympic Games.

A former Head Teacher at a village Primary School, Dave Davies retired almost 4 years ago and now spends his days indulging in his chosen hobbies of fly fishing, underwater photography, while scuba diving around the world, and developing a long time fascination with reptiles, breeding Ball Pythons and Leopard Geckos for the international market.  A sporty man himself, a one off Badminton lesson from a fellow teacher paved the path toward Umpiring and his 3rd Olympic Games.

A 3rd time Olympic Umpire, how does the build up and excitement compare to the 1st time around?
“Firstly I am very proud to be attending my third consecutive Olympics I believe that along with Phil James from England I am the only British Umpire to be appointed to three Olympics.
I am very excited about the Badminton event this time around. With the greatest respect to both Sydney and Athens, neither is a top Badminton playing country. China is and its players have been at the top of the world game for the past twenty years. The population is Badminton mad and the support and expectation will be fantastic. I only hope that the burden of expectation does not weigh too heavily on the shoulders of their players, most have given up many years of their lives preparing for this event and it would be devastating if they were not able to perform at their best”.

I’ve had many highlights to my career; it’s very difficult to narrow it down.  Highlights have included

• Becoming the first umpire from Wales to achieve IBF status, first accreditation then certification, still the only one at that level.
• Being appointed to umpire at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 a wonderful experience.
• The Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpa in 1998 was just magical.
• Umpiring the Men’s doubles final at the Thomas Cup finals
• Watching Richard Vaughan and Kelly Morgan play and develop from young hopefuls into true world class players, the only ones to achieve this during my time in the sport.
• I will never forget watching Kelly achieve her Gold medal in Kuala Lumpa.
• Making good friends throughout the World which I would never have met had I not been involved in sport.

In the previous Olympic Games Welsh flags have decorated the spectator seats, and while the patriotic side of me will have regrets that there is no Kelly or Richard or indeed a successor at the event, as a totally impartial umpire I will be looking for the best athlete with a desire to do well, who can play hard yet fair, and face all situations be it problems or success with a smile on their face.

I would urge anyone out there with an interest in the sport to consider umpiring; here in Wales we are really keen to assist new umpires to develop. Age is not a barrier as there are tournaments that need umpires of all ages. What I would stress is if you aspire to umpire at an Olympics the earlier you start the better.

The RVBA spent the past two weeks at the Singapore National Training centre in Singapore.

The group of 9 had a busy schedule during the 2 weeks with training twice a day with the Singapore Team, in addition to some essential local sightseeing.

Team Bath player Danny Capon said “It was a great two weeks and I gained a lot both in terms of technical input and in understanding how hard I need to be training. It was also an inspiration to see some of the top players in the world train and I can’t wait to get back in to my own training at Bath Uni.”

The Singapore Sports School is the location for both the top Singapore junior players who study and train in the school. The full national team with their back services (e.g. Sport science, Physiotherapy, etc) are also based at the School.

The school has multi sport facilities the highlights of which are 2x50 meter swimming pools, fully equipped gym, new 400 meter running track, and a 12 court badminton court with full air conditioning.

For the forthcoming year the school for the first time will take in foreign students, Fees for the school would cover full education (GSCE’s, A level’s) with classrooms with small numbers. In addition to full boarding with food, and full coaching and training fees with the Singapore Sports School. The School has former top Indonesian national team coaches in charge of trainings. Additionally there are Indonesian and Malaysian sparring players.

The School is also part of the successful bid team for the first Youth Olympics - ‘Singapore 2010’ www.singapore2010.org

For more information on the school including fee’s for the school year please go to www.singaporesportsschool.sg
Finally I would like to thank both the Singapore Sports School manager Desmond Tan and the Singapore Badminton Association for their warm welcome to Singapore and look forward to future exchanges.

If you’re interested in attending next year’s camps then please get in touch at richard@richardvaughan.net

Richard Vaughan Academy player Rachel Thomas has just completed her first year at Loughborough University.  Rachel previously represented her University in the BUSA Team Championships in March 2008 where in the ladies event Loughborough University narrowly lost in the final to Bath University.   The Loughborough University Team have however finished the season on a high by winning the Badminton England Cup at the Grand Final Weekend held at Milton Keynes on the weekend.

The Badminton England Cup is a new competition open to any Club affiliated to Badminton England.  Fifty-four clubs from the South to the North of England entered team's into the Cup. They have competed on a district and regional knockout basis, with the top eight winning through to the grand final weekend.  Rachel and her Loughborough University Team won all of their matches and went on to beat the Brunswick Badminton Club from Yorkshire in the final.  They were awarded the Badminton England Cup, donated by Margaret Pegg, and a £2000 cheque.

Ramenskoe in the Moscow Region is this year’s host for the Europe Cup. The annual event was opened yesterday by representatives from the national federation, the local community and by Badminton Europe’s Director for Events Peter Tarcala. The newly opened Borisoglebsky Sport Centre is the venue for the prestigious event which has attracted teams from all over Europe.

An almost packed Borisoglebsky Sport Centre hosted an impressive opening show on Wednesday where the local organisers gave the spectators an outstanding laser show and a presentation of all participating teams. Images of players, shuttles, team names and sponsor logos flew around the newly build sports complex where the Europe Cup will take place this week.

After the opening show, the local team from Ramenskoe, Favorit-Ramenskoe, entered the courts to play their first match on home soil. The spectators got what they came for, a victory, when they saw their local heroes beat EGO Sport Club from Turkey 6-1. Favorit-Ramenskoe are amongst the teams who are expected to do well in this year’s Europe Cup - together with the other Russian team, the reigning champions from Primorye Vladivostok. Primorye made no mistakes on the opening day as they won 7-0 in both of their matches on the opening day – against SKB Litpol-Malow Suwatki from Poland and ASD Mediterranea from Italy respectively.

Another pre-favourite, Soderin Rinconada from Spain also had good opening day when they easily overcame the challenge of BC Adliswil-Zurich by winning the team match 7-0.

Results and updates can be found on the Seville Rinconada website;

http://www.badmintonrinconada.com/ajo/index.php

The Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy held a training camp in Singapore last week thanks to a successful co-operation with the Singapore Sports School.



The Singapore sports school is the venue for the 2010 Youth Olympics, and the location of the Singapore National Team.



Head coach Richard Vaughan said “The camp provided a great environment for all the players both on and off the court. The facilities at the school are top notch and thanks to the Badmintons Schools manager Desmond Tan and his team of coaches the players were able to access some great knowledge. The Singapore players were very open and friendly which made integration easier. Having the national team also training in the same venue provided great motivation for the players as they got to see some of the world’s top players up close.”
The Academy is back out in July for 2 weeks with 9 players.

The team could not get Gareth Day out of Starbucks..................

On Friday May 2nd Richard Vaughan and Piret Hamer were married in the Medieval town hall of beautiful Tallinn. This was followed my a reception and party at the city's Old Guild Hall with 70 friends and family.

Although technically the Olympic team will not be announced for a few weeks, the ranking system and lack of tournaments remaining for qualification has left it is almost impossible for Wales’s Richard Vaughan to qualify.

Vaughan said "I feel I have played well the past couple of months and that I have a good 3 years left at a high level, especially with the Commonwealth Games in 2 years time. I have not said I am retiring; I do however have to work to pay my tournaments bills for the past year, as it has been made clear to me that there is no sign of me receiving funding. I will be playing for at least the next two seasons as I enjoy competing still, Delhi (CG) is a good goal still remaining and I want to improve on my 106 caps for Wales.

I have always wanted to play at the highest level, not just inside the world’s top 30, but without funding, and training possibilities it’s not possible as this year has shown. To find the 5% that would make the difference to get in to the top 20 and beat players like Wacha. This year I have had nowhere near the degree of support that is needed to achieve at the highest level and that is disappointing. I have also had to work to earn money to get to the tournaments which is a distraction from competing. The past year has cost approximately £20,000.

The Europeans was crucially important not for Olympics but mainly funding as a ¼  final would have been the missing criteria I required for access to the GB funding system which more importantly would have provided me with the infrastructure and support which is needed to improve results and compete with the players I want to be beating.Not beating Wacha meant missing a good chance to get in to the system needed to get the support for beating top 10 players.

Many people both in and out of the UK have been very helpful and I would like to make a special thank you to my sponsor’s Memory Lane Cakes, FD Systems, and Head who have all been totally committed to supporting me the past year.”

Vaughan’s main concentration will now be on the Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy supported by Memory Lane Cakes which was started 2 years ago. The RVBA has been highly successful despite the limited input from Vaughan thanks to the work of the other coaches involved. The Academy has helped top UK talents as Tim Stranks, and Sarah Thomas, and it will expand to include a young group of talented players (Under 13) and run a Badminton in Schools Programme in the South Wales area.

“The Academy has already been highly successful, so the next few years I intend to ensure it can build on this to provide all levels of support for top British badminton players in addition to a few foreign players. I hope we can increase grass roots participation working together with the local schools and borough council”.

Vaughan will certainly be busy with the RVBA and completing his Masters degree at Bath University.
If not busy enough in 10 days time Vaughan gets married to his Fiancée Piret Hamer in Tallinn, Estonia.

“It will be a very pleasant way to end the qualifying period. Personally while it is disappointing not to go to Beijing, I have already been to two Olympics. Piret has been totally supportive for the past 4 years and it will be a great few days with friends and family.

I wish everyone who is selected in the GB Olympic Team the best of luck, and I hope we can improve on our two previous medal successes at the Games.”

Wales’s Richard Vaughan yesterday went out of the European Championships to World No14, and the 2nd seed Wacha of Poland 15-21, 19-21 in 41 minutes. 

In a tight first game Wacha pulled away at 13-13 with some unforced errors from Vaughan. In the second set It was toe for toe all the way to 19-19 when Wacha produced some big smashes to force mistakes from Vaughan.
Vaughan said “It was always going to be a tough draw, but I knew if I could beat Wacha then I could make the final. We have had two tough matches in the past year and I lose both very close. The past weeks I have trained very well and I was confident I could win today, so it’s disappointing. Wacha played very well and I guess that why he’s been in two super series semi finals this year in China, and Swiss. It was tight throughout, but I really thought at 19-19 in the 2nd I could win. I felt in good shape and he was getting tired, but he produced some good shots and in the end deserved to win.”

Wacha later defeated Abian from Spain in the ¼ Final 21-9 21-14 in 21 minutes to line up against Danish No2 Persson in the semi final

Wales’s Richard Vaughan won his second round match Thursday versus Swedish No1 Magnus Sahlberg 21-11 14-21 21-10.

Next up Vaughan is up against the second seed Wacha from Poland. The two have met twice this year with Wacha winning closely on both occasions.

Vaughan said “It was good to win today after getting myself in to trouble in the second set.  I found the hall a little endy but once I got use to that it was fine.”

Wales’s Richard Vaughan won through his first round match at the European Championships in Herning, Denmark, late Wednesday night, Vaughan beat Turkish Number one Hasan Haseyin Durakcan 21-11, 21-9.

Next up see’s Vaughan against Swedish number one Magnus Sahlberg.

Vaughan said “I was pleased to win comfortably but it will be much tougher tomorrow. The hall was a little strange, and I have not been able to train the past couple of days as I am over here on my own, so I hope today will help me play better tomorrow. I have never played Sahlberg, but he has beaten some top players so I will have to be 100%.”

Saturday April 12, 2008, saw the 2008 edition of the Sue Noake Mid-Glam Open Badminton Championships take place at The University of Glamorgan Sports Centre. This tournament, part of Welsh Badminton's 'Welsh Senior Series' and Badminton England's 'Carlton Orbital' circuit.

Tournament organiser/committee member, Vaughn Tovey commented “We were delighted by both the very high number and quality of the entrants both from Wales and England for this tournament, I think this tournament shows that both WSS and Orbital players and circuits can combine extremely successfully”

Mid Glamorgan County mens singles no.1 and no.10 seed, Andrew Woodland had a very tough draw, won the mens singles event beating Kevin Gill of Sussex in the final.  The mens doubles final involved two English pairings and was eventually won in a tight 3 setter by Ben Caldwell and Justin Andrews of Wiltshire, Academy player Gareth Day played superbly well beating WSS no.1 and no.4 seed David Chartres in the group stages to reach the Quarter Finals.

The ladies singles and doubles finals were entirely made up of Richard Vaughan Academy players. No.1 seed Sarah Thomas and No.2 seed Kelly Blake dominated the tournament and duely met in the final where Sarah Thomas clinched the title in a very close 3 set match, and the £70 top prize. Kelly Blake playing with Vikki Jones won the doubles event beating Piret Hamer and Sarah Thomas in a close final.

Welsh International Caroline Harvey and Nic Strange won the mixed final beating Vikki Jones and Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy Coach Liam Ingram in a close 3 set final.

Great Britain player Richard Vaughan said “The Sue Noake Mid Glamorgan Open was yet again a huge success.  I was particularly pleased that Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy had winners in three events”.  Vaughn Tovey added “I would like to give a massive thank all the volunteers, officials and sponsors who helped make the day a great success, without them, it would not have gone anywhere near as well as it did.”.

With the Olympic Qualification finish line in sight and just a few tournaments remaining, Richard Vaughan of Llanbradach has had a couple of weeks training in Wales giving him the best possible preparation for the last leg.  Olympic qualification finishes on April 30th, so this time next month the GB members will know if they are on that plane to Beijing.  Before all that another important competition on the Badminton calendar, the Senior European Championships, starts in just a few days.

The European Badminton Championships has been going since 1968 and is held once every two years to crown the best badminton players in Europe.  This year the host Country is Denmark and the event goes back to Herning where it was played in 1996.

Vaughan has had a long tough season but the end is in sight, and with a jam packed tournament programme and battles with injury, Vaughan withdrew from last weeks Indian Grand Prix to stay home, recover and train.

Vaughan said “I withdrew from the Indian Grand Prix to give myself good preparation for the European Championships. I have been playing well the past months, just have not had much luck in my draws. I have beaten some good top 50 players and have lost narrowly to players in the top 20. So I thought some good preparation would be more suitable for getting a medal at the Europeans rather than chasing points in India”.

Vaughan faces Hasan Haseyin Durakcan of Turkey in the 1st round, a win will take him through into a potential 2nd round tie with Sweden's top Men’s singles player Magnus Sahlberg.  Looking further forward into the Last 16 Vaughan could meet number 2 seed Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland.  Having narrowly lost on their previous encounter Vaughan could cause a big upset.  

Vaughan says “At the Europeans once again I have a tough draw. In the second round I have the Swedish number one, and in the Last 16 the second seed and world No14 Wacha from Poland. I have played him twice in the past year and have lost narrowly on both occasions, so hopefully the good preparation I have had will make the difference”.

Vaughan starts his campaign in Herning on April 16th

Wales’s Richard Vaughan lost in the quarter final of the Polish Open qualifying event to favourite and World No28 Zweibler from Germany.

In the first round Vaughan defeated World No 52 Navikas from Lithuania 21-18, 21-7. The 2nd round saw Vaughan beat Canadian Wocizkeovic 21-13, 21-14.

In the quarter final Zweibler went in 11-10 up at the break as the players went point for point. In the second half of the set Zweibler pulled a few points in front which Vaughan could not draw back wining 21-17.The second game was again point for point to the break but it was Vaughan this time that took the set 21-15. In to the final set and Zweibler shot off to an early lead turning 11-4, Vaughan however did dragged himself back to 13-15, but could not do enough losing the final set 16-21.

Vaughan said “As always it was disappointing to lose. In patches I played well but I gave him far too many easy points especially at the start of the 3rd game. The one side was very difficult to see and I could not pick up enough of his attack when I needed to. It was a very hard match, and I had two tough games yesterday so I am looking forward to a day off. He was playing well and I am sure he will go on and win the tournament.”

Next up is the European Championships in Denmark in two weeks time.

Richard Vaughan won his Last 16 match at the Polish Open versus Canadian Wojcikiewicz 21-13 21-14. Vaughan lead comfortably throughout both sets.

Vaughan said “It was comfortable enough though it was not brilliant badminton. The shuttles were fast and it was difficult to control and we both made a lot of mistakes. I have a tough game tomorrow so it was important to keep concentration and win in straight sets.”

Tomorrow Vaughan faces No2 seed Germany’s Zweibler. A tough encounter.

Fellow RVBA players Sarah and Rachel Thomas won through to the Last 16 of the ladies doubles with a three set victory over WW, and face another Polish pair WW for a place in the ¼ Final.

Richard Vaughan won through the first round of the Polish Open in Warsaw Friday with a 21-18, 21-6 win over World No51 Navikas of Lithuania.

Vaughan said “Today’s game was easier than I anticipated, Kjestus has been playing well the past months beating some top players, and winning two tournaments. So I am happy with the win.
Next up is Canadian No2 Wojcikiewicz . When the two last met at the
2007 US Open in LA Vaughan was victorious 21-13, 21-14.

“I am sure it will be a tough match. Stefan had a good straight sets win over England’s Ghaffer this morning so he must be playing well”.

RVBA players Sarah and Rachel Thomas also in Poland bowed out of the ladies singles qualification yesterday. Sarah Thomas went down 21-9
21-9 to the top seed in qualification Kurniwan from Indonesia. Rachel Thomas went out in a close game to Sarah Walker England’s up and coming ladies player 13-21, 18-21.

“Both girls did well today, and the experience they have gained will be important if they are be top level players. The opponents today were the best in qualifying so they very unlucky there.”

The Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy supported by Memory Lane Cakes Won the Welsh Top Clubs competition this weekend at Brecon Leisure Centre.

The event now re-established by events co-ordinator James Phillips of the Welsh Badminton Union brings together all the top clubs in Wales who fight it out over 9 matches. 1 Men’s singles, 1 Ladies singles, 2 men’s doubles, 2 ladies doubles, and 3 mixed doubles. The winners of the event gain entry to the European club championships which are this year in Russia.

The RVBA beat Monmouth Badminton club 8-1 in the semi final, and then over came Glamorgan Rackets club in the final 5-4.

Head coach Richard Vaughan said “It was great the team were able to win with so many youngsters playing, I hope it will be of great benefit to them in the future”.

Richard was unable to be at the event due to a training camp in Germany prior to the Polish Open next Wednesday. In his absence the team was managed by another coach Simon Rowe.

Simon Rowe said “Everyone played really well and it was great to win. We lost a few close matches in the final which might have given us a slightly greater margin but overall it was a positive experience. I deeply hope we can find some funds to send a team to the Europe Cup finals. At this time however I am not sure if any funding is available. Players like Vikki Jones, Sarah Thomas, Kelly Blake, and Gareth Day would only benefit from the international exposure. Richard and I are deeply appreciative of Memory Lanes support over the past 2 years which has enabled the Academy to be brought together giving both opportunity to talented youngsters and at the same time allowing Richard to try and achieve his 3rd Olympics goal which is especially impressive after his previous career threatening injury”.

This week see’s Richard Vaughan back in the Olympic qualification hunt with the Polish Open in Warsaw. Vaughan lines up against Lithuanian World No 53 in the first round, and a possible quarter final match against German No1 and World No28 Markus Zweibler.

Vaughan will be joined by fellow RVBA players Sarah and Rachel Thomas who both have tough qualifying draws on the Wednesday.

Vaughan said “My draw is tough once again, I am playing well though so I hope I can overturn some close loses of late. The girls both have nasty qualifying draws but it will be great experience for them. Sarah did well in Portugal two weeks ago so hopefully she can gain some more International wins on the back of her nationals successes last month”.

Fellow RVBA player Tim Stranks from Cheltenham reached the doubles semi final, and Mixed doubles final at the Aros International tournament in Holland. Another good result on the back of reaching all three English  National u15 finals  last month.

Top class badminton returns to Mid-Glamorgan this coming April, the 2008 edition of the Sue Noake Mid-Glam Open Badminton Championships are being held at the University Of Glamorgan Sports Centre on April 12th 2008, this season sees the tournament being part of Welsh Badminton's 'Welsh Senior Series', and Badminton England's 'Carlton Orbital' circuit.

Tournament organiser and WSS player Vaughn Tovey commented 'The Sue Noake Mid-Glam Open tournament this season is offering £600 in prize money, which is one of only 2 I can think of which offer prize money in Wales, this is only possible with the help of generous sponsors: Carlton, Richard Vaughan badminton academy, FD Systems, Alzak, University Of Glamorgan, Valley PC and Strength-Pro, - I'd like to thank them all for their involvement with the tournament, without them, prize money and trophies would not be possible.'

Vaughn went on to say 'This season the tournament is the only tournament in the UK to hold dual circuit status, we are part of the WBU's Welsh Senior series, and Badminton England's Carlton Orbital circuit, I am hoping having players from both series at one event will make for a popular and strong entry, previous years the entry has been phenomenally good, and I am hoping this year will be no different. As with previous tournaments, I am sure it will remember Sue Noake in a fitting manner'

Entry forms for the tournament can be downloaded from the WBU and Badminton England websites, in addition - an online entry form has been created.

ENTRY FORMS NEED TO BE SUBMITTED BY MARCH 22nd 2008

Online Entry form: http://www.richardvaughan.net/midglamopen/entry.html

Tournament enquiries: midglamopen@gmail.com or tel: 07866 561366


20.03.08 - Update:

Mens Singles - Main draw will be decieded on order of merit after the event as over sub-scribed
Mens Doubles - Main draw will be decieded on order of merit after the event as over sub-scribed
Womens Singles - Places available
Womens Doubles - Places available
Mixed Doubles - only 3 places available

Team Bath took three titles at this year’s BUSA Badminton Team Championships this weekend in Sheffield.

In the men’s Team Championships Team Bath were represented by Olympic hopeful Richard Vaughan who was taking a break from a hectic Olympic qualifying period to play the BUSA finals.

In the semi final the Team Bath Men overcame Bristol at a canter 8-0. The final saw Team Bath up against their arch nemesis Loughborough university. Bath took the 4 singles matches with Vaughan winning his 21-6, 21-11 & 21-4, 21-6. Loughborough university fought back taking all the double ties closely, seeing the match drawn at 4-4. Bath were victorious however on count back due to the better points difference.

Team Bath’s success continued with the women who took their event also over Loughborough university with a 4-4 win (due to a better points difference). The Men’s second team took the Trophy title earlier in the day with a 7-1 win over Birmingham University 2nds.

Vaughan said “It was great to be part of the Team Bath success it what was a really successful weekend for the Team Bath badminton team. It was a nice break for me from my hectic schedule. Pete (Bush) has done a great job with the entire squad from Elite level to club level players and that can be seen by all the good results. The women’s team were even missing two of their first squad team...I have been training with Pete on and off at Bath University for a decade now and it’s great to be able to help achieve something for the university.”

Vaughan is back in the Olympic hunt next week at the Polish Challenger event in Warsaw where he is seeded 4.

This week saw the last Super Series event in the Olympic qualification period with all the world’s top players attending.

Wales’s Richard Vaughan missed the 28 cut, and had to make his way through qualification to get to the main draw. In the qualification event Vaughan was first up against Thailand’s No 2 and world No39 Poompat Sapkulchananart.

After a tough three set encounter Vaughan came out victorious 21-15 15-21 21-12.
In the 2nd and final qualifying match Vaughan was up against Taiwan No1 and World no 49 Hsiueh . Vaughan controlled the game from the start winning 21-10 21-11.

Wednesday saw the main draw which saw Vaughan up against World no14 Wacha from Poland. In a point for point first set Wacha won 21-19. The second set was much the same before Vaughan opened a 17-15 lead which was clawed back by Wacha who again closed the set to win the match 21-19.

Vaughan said “It was a disappointing to go out in such a close match, I feel I controlled most of the match and just missed a few key points such as the net kill on 17-15. As disappointed I am with today’s match as I am  it was important yesterday to get in to the main draw. The match with Poompat was particularly tough.”

Next up is the Polish Challenger event in two weeks time.

Last weekend was a great weekend for players from Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy supported by Memory Lane Cakes.

The Welsh National Championships took place in North Wales.

Sarah Thomas (15 years old) won the u19 and u17 National singles titles, also winning the mixed u17 title. Rachel Thomas came 2nd in the u19 singles.

In the mixed doubles, Kelly Blake and Damien Renshaw lived up to their top billing by winning the event.

In the younger category, Alanna Morris won the U11 doubles, and had close games in the singles. Alanna nearly made main draw in U13 singles lost plate game but very close. Yasmin Morris  made 3 semi in
U13 had no1 seed in semi, then just missed out on doubles and mixed final in close games.

Lloyd Williams beat Tsung fong in u13 plate but just lost out in final of plate, they both made semi for doubles.

Tsung Fond won the u11 singles.

Congratulations to Academy player Tim Stranks who got to the final of all 3 events at the u15 English National Championships.

Great results and an encouraging start for many of the young players.

Wales’s Richard Vaughan went out in the 2nd round of the All England Super Series qualifying to Scottish Open winner Tago from Japan.

In the first set it was point for point up until Vaughan opened a lead at 16-14, where he put a net kill in the net after a crucial long rally. Tago then seemed to step up the pace closing a tight set 21-19.

The 2nd set Vaughan controlled throughout opening a 20-16 lead. However he could not close out the set despite 6 set points and went down 25-23.

Vaughan said “Today was incredible frustrating, I should never have lost the 2nd set. I was in control of large parts of both sets and was not that tired. I was really ill the past 10 days with a bad chest infection and I am still not recovered. I will have to get that sorted before playing another tournament. My chest is bad, and is It’s far too much of a distraction in a tough match.”

Tago later in the day went on to defeated China’s new rising star Gong Wejie in three games qualifying for the main draw where he lost to World No3 Chen Jin.

“Next week will be important for Olympic qualification I have a good chance of the main draw, but every game is tough with so many good Asian players. I will just try to get recovered the next days and be 100% for Swiss super series”.

Richard Vaughan will be representing Bath University who will be strong favorites for the men’s title at this year’s BUSA championships in Sheffield on March 15th and 16th. Bath face Bristol in the semi final.

Vaughan said “ It great to be representing Team Bath, it’s a busy Olympic period but its great to help the University hopefully win another BUSA title”.

Vaughan players in the Swiss Super Series Tuesday next week.

The RVBA’s Rachel Thomas is also playing for Loughborough University in the Ladies Team. Loughborough are playing Birmingham University and in the other semi final Bath are playing Cambridge. Rachel is to be next year’s Loughborough University 1st Team Ladies Captain. A great achievement as she only started at the University in October 2007.

Wales Richard Vaughan lost to World No 9 and Top seed Park Sun Hwang of Korea 21-10, 21-9 in the 2nd round of the German Open.

Vaughan said "It was very frustrating to lose to Park again. The game unfolded in the same way as in Korean Open, I would be very close and then I seemed to make a few unforced errors, then some good points, before more unforced errors. He’s a very good player and plays at such a high pace, its difficult if you’re not use to that tempo, and I can’t get anything near that quality of practice in. Still I was unable to do anything for five days before this competition due to a nasty chest infection so winning the first round was a plus after that type of preparation"

The German Open was a good building tournament for the All England Super Series next week in Birmingham. Vaughan faces a tough test with possible matches in qualifying against Japans World junior finalist Tago, and World junior champion Gong Wejie of China. If he qualifies he's lined up against China’s World No3 Chen Jin.

Welsh shuttler Richard Vaughan opened his account at the German Open Grand Prix today with a crushing win over Czech player Jan Froehlich 21-18, 21-10 in 29 minutes, the win will now see Vaughan come up against top seeded Park Sung Hwan from Korea.

Vaughan commented "I am very happy with today's result, most aspects of my game worked reasonably well, but I will have to improve if I am to win against Park in tomorrow's 2nd round match, I have had a chest infection since the Thomas Cup, which hasn't helped my training, but I will try my best tomorrow"

See the article HERE

Wales qualified for the quarter finals after beating Switzerland, Austria and the seeded Czech republic in the group stage with Richard Vaughan doubling up against the Czechs to take the decisive doubles to give Wales victory.

This set a Quarter final match with Germany.

Surprisingly Wales resorted away from the formations that had proved successful against the Czechs, and played their straight doubles pairings, with Vaughan only in singles, and not doubling up as he had successfully previously done.

The opening match saw Wales Vaughan versus Joppien from Germany. Both players formerly in the World top 10. Germany took the 1st set in a gruelling encounter which saw the welsh shuttler lose 21-15, Vaughan then fought back to take the second game 21-17 after being 15-9 at one point, in the 3rd set the German was in the lead for most of the match, but Vaughan kept within striking distance, but couldn't convert key points towards the end of the match going down 21-16. Vaughan said "My body is really tired after the matches I have played in the past few days. I was willing to play twice today as I thought we had a good chance, but I was not selected to play doubles. I find it strange after we played so well yesterday." “I played ok, I was a little tired and it took its toll over the 60min match.”

Wales 2nd / 3rd singles both fell to their German opponents easily, and the end result was Wales 0, Germany 3. A disappointing end to a very good week for Wales.

To make things worse the Welsh team found their belongings removed from their hotel rooms at their Tulip Inn Hotel due to a booking error.

“It was not what you needed after a hard disappointing match. To make it worse valuables were lost by the hotel while moving our things, and we then had to spend the evening with the police”.

Wales yesterday won their final match of the group stage of the European Thomas Cup qualifiers in Holland, the final group match against Czech Republic, the winner of which would qualify for the next round of matches.

The tie started with Mens singles #1 with Welsh shuttler Richard Vaughan taking on World no.41 Petr Koukal, the welshman started off very quickly and within a few minutes took a commanding lead, eventually winning 21-5, the second game was a much tighter affair with both players playing near to capacity and trading shots up until 13 all, at which point the welsh shuttler took control of the set and powered his way home, comfortably winning 21-16 and taking the first point for the Welsh team.

Vaughan commented after match 'I was very pleased with my performance today, most things I tried seemed to work, it is especially good to win today as Petr has beaten me in the last couple of encounters'

Both other singles matches unfortunately went the Czech Republic's way making the overal score 2-1

Scratch pairing of Martyn Lewis/Joe Morgan were next on court, and dominated throughout, taking the making 21-17, 21-17, overall score 2-2.

Last, and deciding match featured another scratch Welsh pairing, and featured Richard Vaughan/Matthew Hughes, the welsh shuttlers were made to work hard in the first set, narrowly taking it 21-18, but were in total control during the second, taking the game, set and match for Wales.

The win makes Wales winners of group H, and will now play in the Quarter Finals against Germany today at 3pm UK time.

For Live Scoring - click HERE

Wales won their second match at the Thomas Cup with a 4-1 victory over Switzerland.

Wales got off to a great start when Richard Vaughan defeated Swiss No1 Bosinger 21-14 21-13.

Next up was Raj Popat who went down in the 1st set to Andrey, unfortunately then had to withdraw due to injury at in the 2nd set.

Next to take the court was Martyn Lewis who comfortably won 18 & 15 to give Wales a 2-1 lead.

Both men’s doubles were comfortable winners by Wales to wrap up the match 4-1.

This leaves Wales up against the Czech republic later on today to see who goes through to the next stage.

Vaughan Said “Today was a much better all round team performance. Tomorrow we will have to improve even further if we are going to overcome some tough Czech opposition. They have some very good men’s singles players and we are going to have to be at our best”.

Wales kicked off with a tight 3-2 win in their first group match at the World men’s Team championships in Amsterdam today.

Wales started well with Vaughan (World No34) beating Austrian No1 Koch (World No58) 21-10, 21-13.

Vaughan said “It was a lot more comfortable than I was expecting, everything seemed to go right today and I just hope it continues that way all the way through the week.”

Austria won the 2nd men’s singles with Gotchel defeating Popat in straight sets. Austria then took a 2-1 lead when Lahnsteiner took the 3rd singles against Martyn Lewis.

This put pressure on the remaining two doubles matches. Hughes and Lewis took the first match for Wales 15 & 18. Leaving the decisive match up to James Phillips, and Joe Morgan, who eventually won 21-19 in the 3rd set to give Wales victory.

Wales now face a similar strength task against Switzerland tomorrow.

Next week Wales take on Austria, Czech Republic, and Switzerland in the opening group of the World men’s Team championships in Amsterdam, Holland.

Wales have a great chance of qualifying for the later stages where they would face the 3rd seeds Germany. The Welsh team is made up of Richard Vaughan, Matthew Hughes, Martyn Lewis, Joe Morgan, and James Phillips.
Vaughan said “ We have a great chance of winning the group, but every match will be tough. The Czech Republic will be especially difficult as they have three singles players in the World’s top 70. These players will team up in the doubles and prove difficult opposition. Both Switzerland and Austria have good singles players, but hopefully we can secure the doubles ties.”

The Thomas Cup is the start of a busy period on the International calendar. With the German Open, All England and Swiss Super Series in the following weeks.

The RV Badminton Academy is equally well represented in the female version of the competition, the Uber Cup. The Welsh Team of five girls is made up three Academy players. New national doubles champion Vikki Jones, National doubles finalist Kelly Blake, and Rachel Thomas.

Another Academy player 15 year old Sarah Thomas was also unfortunate to miss out on selection after her recent fine performances including the semi final of the senior nationals, and UK Schools silver medal.

Wales's Richard Vaughan went out in the first round of the Korean Super Series in Seoul to World No12 Korean Park Sung Hwan 21-10, 21-8n in 25 minutes.

Vaughan said "It was disappointing not to have a closer match as training has gone well and I am playing well. Today I was totally out played and Hwan handled the windy hall a lot better then me."

"That said in the second game I was in the match at 7-7 then I had several bad line calls all along the one line at the back of the court. The last one was in my a clear foot, all the umpire said was 'its korea'. I can certainly see why Taufik pulled out due this."

Next up in 3 weeks time will be the World mens Team Championships in Holland where Vaughan will compete for the Welsh Team.

Wales’s Richard Vaughan faces tough opposition in the opening qualification rounds of the Korean Super Series starting next Tuesday in Seoul. He first faces a tough match against the winner of two up and coming Thailand players before facing Olympic Silver medalist Shon of Korea. The two last met in the Last 16 of the Athens Olympics.

Vaughan said “It’s a tough match but I am confident I have a good chance of winning despite Shon playing at home.”

The winner will play last year’s Korean Super Series winner Chen Jin of China in the opening round.

“It’s a case of déjà vu, as I played Chen Jin in the first round last year as well. I am in better shape, and have had much better training the past months so I hope to running him closer.”

The Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy has secured a deal with Physio4Motion Ltd which allows its members to obtain the highest level physiotherapy care at a significant discount.

Physio4Motion have a high level of experience in dealing with top athletes having worked with European & Commonwealth medallists in addition to Olympic athletes from different sports.

Richard said “It’s great to have secured this deal as it allows young athletes to catch injuries early instead of waiting for them to become a problem. Catching injuries early is essential. I personally know this as I was injured at 18 and received poor medical advice. The consequences of an injury at such a young age has always held back my career, and I wish such an option was available to me back then.”

“We have also agreed for Physio4Motion to run a few core stability sessions for the players so they can strengthen their bodies, which once again helps players avoid injuries”.

British Olympian Richard Vaughan has signed the Team Darfur Charter.

Team Darfur is an international coalition of Olympic and professional athletes committed to raising awareness for and bringing an end to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
Team Darfur was founded by 2 former athletes, US Olympians Joey Cheek and Brad Greiner.

Richard said “It’s a terrible situation for the people of Darfur and the situation has not received the international attention it justifies. So anything I can do to bring awareness to the cause is a plus. I hope all professional athletes follow the same example”.

To show your support go to www.teamdarfur.org