The first round of the Central Region Teams competition has been completed. The U15s & U19s took place on June 19 and the U17s & U13s on June 26 at the B&M Centre.

Manawatu had 4 x U13 sides which is fantastic.

A very interesting matchup took place between Elliot Pike (No 1 U17 Central Region Boy) and the new Thai U15 import playing for Taranaki in which the Thai boy emerged victorious. This game drew a lot of attention on June 26.

Central Regions – held on Sunday 19th June – each team played 3 ties per day

• We entered 1.5 U19’s teams (the U17’s plus 3 Manawatu U19’s combined with 3 HB)

Manawatu (U17’s) won 2 out of 3 ties and are in 2nd place in Box A

Manawatu-Hawkes Bay won 2 out of 3 to be in 2nd place in Box B

Many of our junior reps attended their first competition of the year over the weekend.

Perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament came in the finals of the Girls Under 15 Singles where Pingkan Polack who is currently ranked 2nd nationally, was defeated by new Singapore import Ker’Sara Koh. Ker’Sara Koh and her brother Don’Minic are currently residing in Wellington. Hopefully they are here for a while as they will strengthen our Central Region teams.

It was great to see Maxi Ouyang back in action, where she won the U19 Girls Singles title taking on the U17 Champion Alyse Derby and winning in two sets.

Ruawai Te Rata won both the U19 & U17 mixed doubles titles with her regular partner Elliot Pike of Hutt Valley. She also made the finals of the U17 & U19 Girls Doubles where her and regular partner Emily Beard lost both finals in 3 close sets to the same combination of Alyse Derby and Donelle Rota.

Our AGM is being held on Wednesday February 9 at Sport Manawatu (Boardroom) 7.00 pm.

Please come and support Manawatu Badminton, be part of the decision making.

All welcome. See you there!

Congratulations to the Masters Club who celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the RSA on Saturday November 20th.

A great turnout and a good catch up with past and present members.

The Masters Club was formed when the Monrad Club grew too big and the first meeting to form the new club took place at Monrad in 1985.

The first club night took place at the PN Teachers College gym in February 1986, other venues have been the the Longburn Commumity Hall, and the most recent has been the St Peters School Gymnasium in Milson.

Next year the Masters Club will be operating from the Palmerston North Intermediate School Gymnasium, the entrance for this is on South Street map here. Club nights will remain at Tuesdays 7 - 9.30 pm.

Racqueteers is a Badminton New Zealand programme that is being piloted in selected regions in 2010/11. Manawatu is one of the regions that is piloting the programme.

Racqueteers is a resource that will be available for coaches, teachers, physical education teachers, parents or anyone wanting to organise a badminton programme.

It contains elements of the Kiwi badminton programme, basic badminton skills, and fundamental movements skills.

It is a fun and safe way of introducing badminton to children at a primary school level.

Part of the resource is 3 portable nets, and full sized and half sized racquets. This has enabled the programme to be delivered in school halls of all different sizes and shapes to children from years 1 to 8.