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crosshead CONTENTS CONTENTS Front Cover: Viktor Axelsen INTERNATIONAL BADMINTON MAGAZINE is published by internationalSPORTgroup Limited 24A Church Road, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 7JB England www.isportgroup.com Editor: Paul Walters Editorial: email: marketing@isportgroup.com Badminton Correspondents: Raphael Sachetat Dominic Bliss Twitter: @DominicBliss Advertising: Telephone: +44 (0) 7766 576834 email: sales@isportgroup.com www.isportgroup.com Photography: www.badmintonphoto.com Proofreader: Catherine Levack internationalSPORTgroup Limited makes every effort to ensure that editorial is factually correct at the time of going to press, but cannot accept responsibility for any subsequent errors. internationalSPORTgroup Limited is not responsible for unsolicited material. Copyright internationalSPORTgroup Limited. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. Views expressed and products appearing in International Badminton Magazine are not necessarily endorsed by internationalSPORTgroup Limited. For more information regarding internationalSPORTgroup & International Badminton Magazine visit: www.isportgroup.com Bright Future For English Badminton 05 Badminton England Chief Executive Adrian Christy explains why the New Year is especially exciting for English Badminton as the governing body looks forward to future growth and development of the sport Dubai BWF World Superseries Finals: An Indication of the Future? 06 International Badminton Magazine looks back at the spectacular year-end BWF World Superseries Finals to try and predict what might happen in the coming year Imogen Bankier Retires To Pursue Business Career 13 World Silver Medal winner Imogen Bankier announced her retirement from badminton at the end of 2015 to pursue a business career, admitting she no longer had the required motivation to compete at the highest level All To Play For In AJ Bell National Badminton League 15 With one match-night remaining of this season’s AJ Bell National Badminton League (NBL) THERE’S still all to play for as teams race for the Play-Offs Moment In Time 16 As part of its collection of some of the most memorable images from the sport, International Badminton Magazine presents the acrobatic Koreans, Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong – the most successful 2015 Men’s Doubles pairing with six BWF Superseries titles Badminton England 18 Record Numbers expected in national schools event, make badminton happen and volunteer, follow Badminton England for all the latest news and offers and much more … Indonesian Badminton Legend Set For VIP Role at 2016 Yonex All England 19 The countdown to the 2016 Olympic Games is well and truly on with less than 200 days to go until the world’s biggest sporting event begins Viktor Axelsen: The ‘Little Prince’ of Badminton 21 Raphaël Sachetat looks at the blossoming career of Viktor Axelsen and explains why the 22-year-old Dane, with a raw talent and an outgoing personality, is one of Europe’s best chances to shine and secure a medal at this year’s Olympic Games World Rankings 25 Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles at a glance 4 | March 2016 INTERNATIONALBADMINTONMAGAZINE www.isportgroup.com/InternationalBadmintonMagazine
By Badminton England Chief Executive Adrian Christy brightfuturefor englishBadminton As we welcome the New Year it is with real excitement that we can look forward to the future growth and development of English badminton. Over the past year we have been involved in a significant consultation exercise in which I have toured all around the country talking to dozens of County Badminton Associations, clubs, leagues, players, coaches and fans, to get their thoughts as we form our future strategy that will take us through to 2024 – and the next two Olympic cycles. It’s been a truly inspiring and enlightening experience and what has served as a great reminder from these meetings is the incredible passion and love for the sport that exists throughout the country. From our fantastic volunteers to county players, and the next emerging generation of talent, it is clear that there is an abundance of people who live and breathe our great sport, with a strong desire to see us ‘win’ across all levels of badminton, on and off the court. Grass Roots This passion is shared by Badminton England, and it is worth highlighting the continued investment we are making to grow the game at grass roots level over the next 12 months and beyond. We currently have around 6,000 players competing in our circuit and county competitions. We have re-launched our Senior County Championships tournament to make it more attractive to players who take part and also piloted a summer circuit competition last summer The National Junior League, a new competition to get more young people playing badminton that we piloted in 2015, will officially launch later this year that attracted nearly 1,000 entries in nine tournaments over two months. We will look at ways of expanding the summer circuits this year to get more people involved and make badminton a truly year-round sport. The National Junior League, a new competition to get more young people playing badminton that we piloted in 2015, will officially launch later this year, while our hugely successful and thriving National Schools Competition started again in September, with over 35,000 youngsters taking part. Our clubs are so important to us and many are doing great work in developing and growing their membership, with success stories up and down the country. For example Liskeard Junior Badminton Club was recently awarded Junior Club of the Year at the Cornwall Sports Awards, while Colne Badminton Club has had to set up a waiting list to help them manage the demand, such has been their success in attracting adults and juniors to play. I love learning of stories like this; these examples and many others have helped organised group and club activity among over-16s grow from 127,600 to 146,000 players since the London 2012 Olympic Games – a great legacy for badminton. A big thank you to everyone who has helped make this possible, your efforts are much appreciated. A National Event Moving on to our major events and I hope that everyone who watched the English National Badminton Championships at the University of Derby’s new £10 million sports centre in February enjoyed it. You can read all the match reports and watch video of finals day on demand at badmintonengland.co.uk/nationals. Attention now turns to the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena from 8-13 March, for which tickets are still available. It will be the first BWF Superseries event of 2016 and it would be remiss of me not to mention that the final badminton event of 2015 – the World Superseries Finals in Dubai – was won in amazing fashion by England’s Chris and Gabby Adcock. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they can repeat the feat at the YONEX All England on the #RoadtoRio and I know they would love your support! INTERNATIONALBADMINTONMAGAZINE March 2016 | 05 | www.isportgroup.com/InternationalBadmintonMagazine
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Page 7 and 8: Dubai BWF World SuperSeries Finals:
Page 13 and 14: Imogen Bankier Retires To Pursue Bu
Page 15 and 16: With one match-night remaining of t
Page 17 and 18: moment in time: lee yong dae and yo
Page 19 and 20: IndonesianBadmintonlegendsetfor VIP
Page 21 and 22: Viktor Axelsen: The ‘Little Princ
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Page 25 and 26: BWF WORLD RANKINGS MEN’SSINGLES 1
Page 27 and 28: BWF WORLD RANKINGS WOMEN’SSINGLES
Page 29 and 30: BWF WORLD RANKINGS MEN’SDoubles 1
Page 31 and 32: www.iSPORTstore.com THE DEFINITIVE

IBM_March_2016

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