Badminton: England stars descend on Loughborough for international match
Badminton - 4/September/2009
Loughborough University welcomes international badminton to the East Midlands next month when Team England take on Japan on Saturday 17 October.
The country’s top players will descend on the town as the University hosts its first ever international badminton fixture, which has been made possible thanks to funding from the East Midlands Development Agency (emda).
Loughborough graduate Donna Kellogg returns to the University to represent England with doubles partner Anthony Clark, who is also based at Loughborough’s Badminton England High Performance Centre. The pair are European mixed doubles champions and are ranked favourites going into the Japan fixture.
2004 Olympic gold medallist Nathan Robertson has also been confirmed for the match and is to make his first outing on home soil since making his 100th appearance for England during the Sudirman Cup in China in May.
Loughborough director of sport Chris Earle is looking forward to welcoming the England and Japan badminton stars onto campus.
“We are delighted to be able to host this world class fixture and bring international badminton to Loughborough and the wider East Midlands,” he said. “It’s particularly appropriate for us to host this match given our links with Japan and the Japanese Olympic Committee and we look forward to welcoming players from both teams onto campus next month.”
Japan last toured England in November 2000 when the hosts won a six-match series 5-1. The previous Japan visit was in 1998 when England won 3-2. Most recently Team England played Japan in the Sudirman Cup, scoring a resounding 4-1.
Team England will be led by Performance Director Ian Moss and Olympic manager Andy Wood, a former Loughborough coach.
The matches will be played under the five-match Sudirman Cup format of men’s and women’s singles and doubles and one mixed.
The fixture is one of two international matches taking place to launch the new badminton season – the other takes place at the University of Bath on Friday 16 October. The Loughborough fixture on Saturday 17 October starts at 5.45pm.
Tickets will be £12 adults, £10 BADMINTON England members and £6 concessions – Under 16, OAP and Students. Tickets are on sale now – see www.badmintonengland.co.uk for details.