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Gwent youth badminton re-starts on a high

Gwent youth badminton has re-started at Ebbw Vale on a Saturday morning at Ebbw Vale sports centre from 10.00-1.00 each week. The squad is now up to 32 players from 8-19 ( though there are still a few spaces if you have someone you think maybe good enough for a trial).

The squad have been buoyed by a magnificent home win against Guernsey in the summer, when a youthful Gwent side surpassed all expectations to win 31-14 in the annual match.This was despite several injuries and two late replacements!

This season the county is entering the English youth county championship.    (the shires league), for the first time at U17 level and we have Avon, Shropshire and Devon at home, and Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester away. Devon will be favourites to win this league being ranked fourth in England last season. The Devon home match will be on Saturday 28th. November from 10.30-2.00 should anyone want to support.

Anyone who wishes to either give a hand on a Saturday or suggest a player would be more than welcome!

Chris and Alison Pritchard

Coaches

Gwent juniors take Guernsey by storm

The end of the school term saw the Gwent junior squad leave for Guernsey to play the island team. This is always a highly anticipated event and this year was no exception. Seven boys and seven girls represented the county with many of the Gwent team being considerably younger than their opponents.

A fun tournament was held on the first night which was won by the Guernsey/Gwent pairing of Jordan Trebert/Kate Whiteman.

the day out to Herm was a great success, despite flash flooding and hailstones less than two miles away! The squad plus most of the adults swam so it couldn’t have been too cold!

the match was a closely fought affair with Gwent always just managing to keep their noses ahead after a strong showing in the singles, to eventually come out 24-15 winners.

captain James Ellaway gave a good speech thanking the opposition for their hospitality and close matches.
the team will have benefited from hard matches and will be aware of the challenge to come when Guernsey return in July 2015

thanks must go to the Gwent committee and Jan Pritchard in particular for making this such a successful weekend.

TEAM:

james Ellaway, Josh Pearce, Tom Whiteman,Oliver Stansfield, Iwan price, Dafydd Price, Elliot Simmonds.
Katie Whiteman, Megan Pritchard, Aimie Whiteman, Kelly Yip, Bethany Jones, Lucie Whiteman, Lydia Morris

Excellent season (2012-13) for PD Badminton Club

P.D Badminton club have just completed their most successful season in many years, with every Men’s squad winning their respective leagues, as well as winning the Gwent Badminton Mixed team competition for the second year running, having won the event in the 2011-12 season.

For the forthcoming season (2013-14) the club will be playing in the following Gwent and Cardiff leagues.

Gwent league – Men’s
Men’s 1st’s – Division 1 (promoted 2011-12 and 2012-13)
Mens 2nd’s – Division 2 (promoted 2012-13)

Cardiff League – Men’s
Men’s 1st’s – Division 1 (promoted 2011-12 and 2012-13)
Men’s 2nd’s – Division 4 (Team entered in 2012-13, and promoted 2012-13)

Gwent league – Ladies
TBA

Cardiff League – Ladies
Ladies 1st’s – Division 3

Gwent league – Mixed
TBA

Cardiff league – Mixed
Mixed 1st’s – Division 4

Cardiff Men’s 1st’s captain Jeff Reynolds commented “What an fantastic year the club has had, last year was amazing, but this season has surpassed those achievements, I must congratulate the club as a whole on this seasons performances, to be promoted for 2 successive seasons in some cases is a phenomenal achievement, and cements our place as one of the best badminton clubs in the Gwent and Cardiff league. I would welcome any new players to come to our summer 2013 sessions ready for next season. We particularly would welcome any ladies wishing to play, as we would like to re-establish our Gwent ladies and mixed teams”

Gwent Mixed Team Cup captain, and club secretary Diane Davies commented “I don’t think in all my time as a PD player that I’ve seen such a successful season, securing the Gwent Mixed Team Cup once more was very hard as we had to play some excellent teams en route, most notably the final vs Abergavenny. Lets hope for more of the same next season. Ladies – we are looking for new players, you are extremely welcome to come along – we won’t bite, I promise.”

Gwent Mixed Team Cup – Final 2012-13 (video clip)

http://www.youtube.com/embed/NwLIbdSeqkM

For more details on joining PD Badminton Club, please contact Vaughn Tovey (restrings@gmail.com), Simon Ewins (simon_ewins@hotmail.com) or Diane Davies (davies-diane63@sky.com)