The first day of the European Badminton Championships in Manchester kicked off today with Welsh Badminton's Sarah Thomas playing Ukrainian No1 Larisa Griga. Thomas then partnered up with the RVBA's (supported by Memory Lane Cakes) Richard Vaughan for a tough Last 32 match against Belarusians Zaitsava and Konakh.  The RVBA’s men’s singles entry was Scotland’s Alistair Casey who was up against Turkeys Murat Sen.

First off Sarah Thomas started well against Griga but was a little too inconsistent after a series of hard long rallies and struggled in the slow stadium losing the first set 12-21. It was a similar story in the second set going down 11-21 despite some promising rallies.

In the mixed doubles Thomas and Vaughan comfortably defeated the Belarusians straight 21-16 21-10. That leaves the Welsh Badminton pair with a tough match in the Last 16 versus the Top German pair.

Casey proved far too strong against Turkeys Murat Sen winning 21-6, 21-10. That leaves Casey in the Last 32 against Belarusian Yakuchuk.

The RVBA’s Richard Vaughan commented “It is a great first days results for the players. The mixed was comfortable as was Alistair’s men’s singles. The ladies singles was a great experience which would have been a useful experience for Sarah in a huge stadium”.

Tomorrow the RVBA players are active in the ladies doubles, mixed doubles, and mens singles.