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WELCOME TO THE SALISBURY
AND DISTRICT BADMINTON
ASSOCIATION WEB SITE
England vs Poland
Thursday 6th NOVEMBER 2008
at The OASIS LEISURE CENTRE . Swindon
Play starts at 6.45pm.
Three
firsts as England take on Poland in Swindon
ENGLAND are to start one
of their busiest badminton season's with three firsts - a first friendly international match against Poland, an inaugural
fixture at Swindon and the first appearance of the England team under their new CenterParcs sponsorship.
The England-Poland
international will be at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon on Thursday, November 6 in a match to mark the 50th anniversary
of the Swindon and District Badminton Association.
The contest is made possible thanks to the support of Swindon Borough
Council and civil engineering company BAM Nuttall Ltd, who are responsible for the 10-year Swindon Redevelopment Plan.
England
have never met Poland in a friendly international but have faced one another in major events, most recently at the European
Team Championship at Herning in April when they beat them 3-0 in the semi-finals on the way to the silver medal behind hosts
Denmark.
Poland helped the England doubles players in the Team GB squad to prepare for the Olympic Games and the international
in Swindon will offer the chance of a rematch of the European Individual Championships' mixed doubles final in Herning between
gold medallists and world No 9 ranked pair Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg and world No 11 ranked Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda
Kostiuczyk.
The Polish squad also includes world No 12 men's singles player Przemyslaw Wacha and women's doubles star
Kamilla Augustyn, who with Kostiuczyk is ranked No 17 in the world in women's doubles..
As well as Clark and Kellogg,
the England squad is likely to feature former Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson, who this season starts his quest
for the nine caps needed to take him into England's elite 100 Club.
What they had to say:
England head coach Ian
Wright said: "This is a big season for England's established and emerging players as we build towards the European Team Championship
in Liverpool in February and the Sudirman Cup world team championship in China in May. The match with Poland is just what
we need to sharpen the players' appetite and both teams have the players to make this a tight contest."
Darren Parks,
BADMINTON England's Head of Competitions and Events, added: "The Swindon match is a great way to mark the 50th anniversary
and to remembers the contribution to the English game of the late Tony Winslow, a BADMINTON England board member and for so
long a driving force in Swindon badminton. It is marvellous to see that 'Uncle Tone's' passion for badminton still exists
among his Wiltshire county colleagues and we hope this match is a worthy reflection of the Swindon and District Association's
efforts over the years."
Justin Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Recreation for Swindon Borough Council,
said: “We are delighted to be hosting such a prestigious badminton international in Swindon at our ever-popular Oasis
Leisure Centre. The visit of Poland is of particular relevance to Swindon as a significant number of our residents are of
Polish origin. We wish both teams all the best and look forward to a great night of top-class badminton.”
Tickets
for the England v Poland match go on sale today and can be purchased direct from The Oasis Leisure Centre or by phoning the
Ticket Hotline on 01793 445401 (prices £10 with concessions at £8 for BE members, and £6 for Under 16s and senior citizens).
Badminton England registered members £8 – to pay by cheque contact
Ticket Officer Sandie Hinder on 01793 531652. By Credit Card contact Badminton England Ticket Hotline 01908 268 400 (Badminton
England Membership Number required in both instances).
Play starts at
6.45pm on Thursday November 6 and the match features one each of men’s and women’s singles and doubles plus one
mixed doubles.
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SALISBURY BADMINTON PLAYERS VISIT XANTEN
Over the weekend of the 29th May – 1st June 2008, Martin du Feu, Monica
Edwards, Nicky Robertson and Kathy White represented Salisbury Badminton in our twin town of Xanten in Germany.
We arrived at 6.30pm on Thursday evening after an 11 hour drive and were met by our host families. The following day after breakfast we visited Xanten Cathedral. We felt very privileged to be shown behind the scenes, where the maintenance for the Cathedral is done,
we were also allowed to climb the 257 steps up to the top of the spire which is not normally open to the general public. The
Cathedral is beautiful and we were able to take some fantastic photos of the town from the top of the spire. Later that day we drove to Venlo in Holland to do some shopping and have lunch, we had never seen so many
bicycles in on place before. In the evening we mixed in with the Xanten players,
young and old, and had some very good games of badminton.
Saturday began with breakfast and then on to the Badminton Hall for three hours of play, very enjoyable
but very tireing. The afternoon was ours to do as we pleased, so we explored the town and also visited the Archaeological
Park and the Roman Ruins, this was very interesting. That evening Wolfgang, the Xanten trip coordinator, and his wife laid
on a BBQ, loads to eat and plenty to drink. Salisbury players presented our hosts
with a gift of a Salisbury plate as a thank you for their wonderful hospitality.
We hope to see the Xanten players sometime next year.
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