USA Badminton Open                  A small team from the RVBA supported by Memory Lane Cakes Badminton Academy made the trip to Anaheim, venue for the US Grand Prix Event 2009. The event which started on the 6th July was spread over a course of a week with the finals on the 11th July. This was the third qualifying for the Delhi Commonwealth Games for three Welsh RVBA players.

First up was the ladies singles event with Sarah Thomas, who was forced to withdraw in the quart final from last week’s Russian Challenger event in Saint Petersburg due to injury. Thomas was up against USA Youth team player Phonasavithas. In a difficult match for Sarah Thomas due to the few days of total rest to try and recover the injury, the young Welsh player managed to keep her game together on the big points which saw her sneak the first set 21-15. It was a similar story in the second set with Thomas taking it 21-19.
The second ladies singles player was Rachel Thomas. Her opponent was the USA No1 Eva Lee, a very tough first round tie. The first set was even at the start of the set but Lee finished strong closing it 11-21. In the second game Lee controlled throughout taking it 6-21.
In the Last 16 round Sarah Thomas was up against Malaysian/American Kuei Ya Chen, who had easily won her first round 21-7, 21-7. In a very close first set, despite Thomas holding a small lead throughout the set Chen won 17-21. In the second game Thomas struggled to cope with the Malaysian’s consistency with the Malaysian closing the match 10-21.

In the Ladies doubles Sarah and Rachel Thomas were up against the local club players and USA Youth Internationals the Yeh sisters. In a great first game the Welsh pair dominated taking the set 21-12. However they could not take advantage of their lead and the home crowd began to take a larger part in the match helping the US pair take the second game 11-21. This was the same story in the 3rd set with the Americans taking it 21-9.

The final event with a RVBA interest was the mixed doubles where RVBA coach Richard Vaughan and sixteen year old Sarah Thomas seeded for the event were up against scratch pair American Ted Shear and Austrian Number one Simone Putsch in the first round. A close first set saw the Welsh RVBA pair take it 22-20. The second set they were able to better control the tempo of the game winning 21-16.
In the Last 16 round the RVBA pair was up against tough opposition in World Champion Howard Bach and Eva Lee from the USA. The USA pair coming out on top 13-21, 7-21 quite commandingly. The Americans went on to take the title comfortably.

RVBA Head coach Richard Vaughan commented “It was a tough event especially on the back of Russia. Sarah was injured in Russia and although was ok to play at the US I think it affected her game a little. Still it was great experience for the youngsters, and the first set of the ladies doubles was best I have seen them play. The mixed was a very bad draw; our opposition went on to win the tournament comfortably. Next will be some hard training before the World Champs in India.”

Next up for the RVBA will be the World Championships with the same three Welsh players being the only representatives from Wales at the World’s most predigest Badminton event. The Worlds will take place in Hyderabad starting on August 10th.