After their quarter final win against Ibiza, Madrid faceed rivals Rinconada in the smei final of the Badminton Spain Club League.
 
The first leg last weekend in Madrid the return leg on the 27th March.

A tough team sheet for both teams here as both teams although strong contain several foreigners from the UK, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and only a maximum of 3 of the 7 ties in the team match can be played with the foreigners, so a lot of time spent pre-match attempting to second guess how the other team might play their combination and trying to steal an edge from the start with your own line up.

Craig Goddard and fellow professionals formed the Scotland Badminton Players’ Union on Friday as they launched a petition for a Vote of No Confidence in the Badminton Scotland management.

The development comes off the back of what the players see as their inexplicable omission from last week’s Thomas Cup squad and all the players have joined forces to provide a voice for the country’s players.

In last week’s News, Scotland’s number-two ranked player, Goddard, spoke of his fury after Badminton Scotland left him out of the big team event in Warsaw and he insists that was the final straw in a long battle with the governing body which has seen him and many other players overlooked for tournaments and crucial funding in recent years.

Quarter final stage second leg this weekend for the home match Madrid against Ibiza in the Spanish Badminton League. This match pretty much secured after a comfortbale 5-2 win in the first leg.

The second leg was played in Torrejon without Alistair required to compete this week, Richard Vaughan and Sarah Thomas made up the foreign contingent of the team.

Fielding a sligtly weaker team Madrid won the leg 4-3 and progress now to the semi finals against Badminton Rinconada from Seville, Richard Vaughan's previous club and Spanish Badminton Champions for the past 5 seasons.

World No. 10 Li Na of China was a badminton player when she was six years old.

But her coach told her parents to let her take up tennis instead.

And the native of Hubei City has never looked back since, blossoming into the most successful tennis player the country has produced so far.

“The coach said I was playing badminton more like a tennis player and suggested the change. It was not a bad idea,” said Li Na, who is the first Chinese player to break into the top 10 of the world rankings.

Now the Asian No. 1 has set her sights on scaling greater heights.

It could very well be the draw of death for singles ace Lee Chong Wei and doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in the All-England badminton tournament next month.

In fact, it doesn’t look good for the top women shuttlers – Wong Mew Choo and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty – either.

Judging by the draw released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) yesterday, this may turn out to be one of the worst outings for the national shuttlers at the All-England, which will be held in Birmingham from March 9-14.

In the men’s singles, world No. 1 Chong Wei will meet Chetan Anand in the opening round.

Sports experts sounded the urgency for the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) and coaches to engage with the psychological aspect of its proteges to help revive the country’s badminton glory.

“Although the development of an athlete revolves around physical and technical issues, I believe that psychology plays a more dominant role,” PBSI head coach Christian Hadinata told The Jakarta Post last week.

“With strong mentalities, athletes will be driven to constantly improve their motivation in competitions and maintain discipline in trainings,” Christian said, adding that good technique and physical fitness do not hold without a strong mental state.

Christian, who was the country’s top shuttler triumphing the All England, the World Championships and Asian Games throughout the 1970s and 1980s, cited himself as an example.

Maverick shuttler Taufik Hidayat has again chosen to go it alone by opting to help fund a new badminton arena in Jakarta after his disillusion at how the sport is run in Indonesia.

Former world and Olympic champion, Hidayat, 28, controversially defected from the Indonesian national team in early 2009 and he plans to use his profile to help find the next generation of talent.

"Sports in Indonesia aren't being supported by the government," Hidayat told Reuters. "The rewards you get as a young player don't match the effort you put in."

"I want to be different from other athletes, if not better, and I want to make something good out of my profile and help the younger players have opportunities."

Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson has backed a decision to stage badminton at Wembley Arena during the 2012 Games in London.

Organisers decided against building a temporary venue at the Olympic Park, a move that is unpopular with badminton's governing body.

But Robertson told BBC Sport: "For players, Wembley has a lot of history.

"To win a medal there at the London Olympics would give it a bit of extra spice rather than in a new venue."

Eastbourne's Heather Olver has admitted she has a hard act to follow in replacing Donna Kellogg to become Anthony Clark's partner.

European badminton mixed doubles champion Clark teamed up with 23-year-old Olver last month after long-serving partner Kellogg's retirement.

Olver told BBC Sussex: "Some big shoes to fill there.

"It's going ok, he's being patient with me so that's good. It seems to be going well at the moment."

Many badminton fans around Europe will be able to follow the deciding matches at the forthcoming European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships despite not being in Warsaw, Poland.

Eurosport 2 is broadcasting live from the semi finals and finals in the weekend 20-21 February.
Giving all of Europe’s badminton fans the opportunity of experiencing the great badminton events is one of the main tasks for Badminton Europe. Therefore it is with great satisfaction that an agreement with Eurosport has now been made, securing coverage from next week’s European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships in Warsaw, Poland.

Eurosport 2 broadcasts to 40 million households in 14 languages across 46 countries.