Major Badminton sports brand Carlton has taken another step foward to help the UK's best young badminton players by supporting the Richard Vaughan Badminton Academy (RVBA). Carlton take over from Head as the main supporters of the badminton academy for the next three years.

Founder and Head coach Richard Vaughan commented "The new deal with a major badminton brand like Carlton is a great step forward for the Academy, and everyone involved. Carlton have really progressed the past couple of years and I have found their rackets great in testing. This support will find its way down to the young players as well and benefit all involved...

The RVBA’s Sarah Thomas was today confirmed as officially qualified for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. A great achievement for the seventeen year old, adding to her double national title success earlier in the year. This season Sarah has reached the highest rankings of 48 in mixed doubles, 60 in ladies doubles, and 107 in Ladies singles.

Sarah commented “It’s great to be selected for Wales; I have been waiting some time to hear confirmation so now I can concentrate on the hard training that needs to be done to be ready for Delhi. The only negative is that Rachel (Thomas) and I seemed to have missed out in the ladies doubles which is a pity as we must have been awfully close to selection.”

RVBA Head Coach Richard Vaughan "The Commonwealth Games will be a great learning experience for Sarah, and hopefully will give her the experience needed for events later in the year such as the European Junior Championships where she will hopefully be competing for a medal. I am sure India will do a great job with the Games, and as Badminton is a popular sport there it will be a terrific experience for all the team."

With just over 3 months until the start of the 19th Commonwealth Games, all eyes will be fixed on Delhi, who will play host to the Games between 3rd October – 14th October 2010.  The 19th Games will be the largest multisport event held in India's capital city. This year’s Games will be the 2nd time the event has been played in Asia, the last being Kuala Lumpa 1998. Welsh Badminton has had success in past games including Gold at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpa (Kelly Morgan) and Bonze in Manchester 2002 (Richard Vaughan).

Badminton will run throughout the games from 4th-14th October at Delhi’s Siri Fort Sports Complex alongside the Commonwealth Squash event. 

The RVBA are happy to promote a great badmitnon club in the Bristol/Bath area.

Welcome to the start of the new 2010 - 2011 season at Chew Park Badminton Club. Their 1st club night is on Monday 6th September. They are currently looking for new members, prospective members are welcome to come and visit on a club night. If you are interested please contact the Chew park Badminton club via their website.

The 2010 National Badminton League will be offering live streaming of all matches this season as the LA Strings, Pasedena Racquets and California Walnuts go off against each other in a three match tie competition taking place over Sunday 25th-Tuesday 27th July.

Some of the worlds top badminton players will be on display after the US badminton open. The matches will be taking place at these venues/times 

Sunday July 25 - Los Angeles @ Pasedena - 4:00pm (PST - GMT-7)
Monday July 26 - Los Angeles @ California - 7:00pm (PST - GMT-7)
Tuesday July 27 - California @ Pasedena - 7:00pm (PST - GMT-7)

Yonex US Badminton Open Grand Prix Gold 2010 - Update - The RVBA's Alistair Casey has arrived in Los Angeles from Melbourne for the $120,000 event taking place in Orange County, California this week.

A strong Asian and European contingent makes up the draw, in the Men’s Singles 64 main draw seedings are headed by Olympic and World Champion Taufik Hidayat, Indonesia and Dicky Palyama, Netherlands.

Alistair unseeded this week is first up on court against Denmark’s no.16 Seed, Rune Ulsing, Tuesday morning 9am, Los Angeles (GMT -7), please follow the link for live updates …

The RVBA have linked up with a new partner in Direct Sports, a online Badminton Specialist who stock the latest Head Badminton equipment.

Direct Sports supply a wide range of quality goods for a variety of sports to a variety of customers including retail, clubs, schools, associations and more. Through investment in professional infrastructure, people, facilities and a strong focus on customer service, we've become a major UK sports supplier over the last 7 years of trading.

As sports specialists we help you make an informed choice by supplying accurate product information, detailed images and strong customer support for any queries you may have about Direct Sports or our products.

With glittering sports tournaments raging across the globe, sports in general have gained a lot of mileage in the global media. Out of all these sports, Badminton is gaining popularity.

For those who want to excel in badminton, it’s very necessary for them to make a mark by excelling through their performance. Initially, the game of badminton seems to be an easy one, but on the contrary, professional players will argue that it requires a player to be vigilant enough to cope with the tough requirements of the game. Badminton trainers are special people who are experienced and have full command over the techniques used for training. People who have a strong will power and determination can excel in sports. Some people are unable to participate in sports because of their weak economic conditions. Availability of resources plays another significant role in determining the caliber of a person who is trying to make it big in sports.

Tips and advice given to the players make them better day by day. Within no time, the same players have a upper hand in the game. The players can make a mark by dominating the match with their extra skills. These skills allow these players to perform at the international level. Some of the badminton tips are as follows:

BADMINTON PRACTICE

It is rightly said that “Practice makes a man perfect”. It is very important for a badminton player to practice a lot so that his focus and observation improves which in turn will help in reducing the chance of missing a hit to a shuttlecock. By practicing hard, a badminton player can get to know the tricks to dodge his opponent which can help him score better points.

The draws have been released for the 2010 Yonex Australia Badminton Open Grand Prix.

The men’s singles field looks to be the strongest, with Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh lining up as top seed, but with stern competition from last year’s runner-up and India Open champion Alamsyah Yunus of Indonesia and 2008 New Zealand Open winner Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia. Seeded 4 in the Men’s Singles Alistair (RVBA) has a bye in the first round.

What happend to Badminton footwork?

World ranked badminton player Sarah Thomas, a teenager from Whitchurch in Cardiff, is still dreaming of Commonwealth Games’ selection.

Welsh badmitnon selectors will make their decisions for the Games, being held in Delhi during October, soon.

Sarah, aged 17 and an A level student at Whitchurch High School, is rated among the leading badminton juniors in Europe.