B.B.F.

Welcome to the website of the Belgian Badminton Federation vzw-asbl (BBF). The BBF is the national Belgian Badminton Federation grouping both main Badminton federations, the Vlaamse Badminton Liga vzw and the Ligue Francophone Belge the Badminton asbl. Together, both regional federations are good for about 30.000 affiliated members. Badminton is proud to be one of the biggest indoor sports in Belgium. The BBF is responsible for all national organisations within our sport (e.g. national league, national championships, the Belgian Badminton A Circuit and the national classification commission, court officials,...). Furthermore, the BBF is responsible for the contacts with Badminton Europe and the Badminton World Federation, both of which the BBF is also a member association.

We trust that on this site you will find specific Belgian Badminton information like the Belgian national A and B1 ranking, a link to the results of the Victor League (top badminton league in Belgium), the latest news regarding our national teams and much more...

Should you have any feedback on the content of this site, please do not hesitate to contact our webmaster.

The National Classification Commitee has decided to upgrade the following players to the A classement from 22.01.2010 :

Female
CASTILLO Angela
CLEMENT Ellen
TEGETHOFF Jana

The BBF Classification Committe presents his congratulations to the above players and wish them much success in their new category.

The following players have been downgraded from A to B1 from 22.01.2010 due to insufficient or no results in the A category :

Male
LAUWERS Dries
VAN DURME Frédéric
VERMEULEN Steven

Female
JEAN VILLANUEVA Agnieszka
DAMBERMONT Audrey
HARDY Cécile

Wellen was a very short day in the competition.
Mont-sur-Marchienne had problems with his young students and could not send a full team to Limburg. A present for De Pluimplukkers who did not refuse the generous present.
Saive 1 had an easy day competing De Nekker 7 – 1.
The other meetings gave nice and close results.
Webacsa could beat Veltem Motors 5-3 with 5 three games matches.
Ixelles needed the points for the play offs and kept Lebad under control.

By the end of the day we knew the teams for the play offs and the play downs :

Play offs
Saive 1 13 pts
Lebad 11 pts
Webacsa 11 pts
Veltem Motors 8 pts

Play downs
Ixelles 7 pts
Pluimplukkers 4 pts
De Nekker 1 pt
Mont-sur-Marchienne 1 pt

As from the first day of the play offs and play downs all matches are important.
In sports hall De Bres in Halle Webacsa had a difficult start competing Saive 1 and Lebad.
The Limburg team lost two times 3-5 what does not mean this should be the end of their ambitions. Four and three three games matches, just not good enough to win but no reason to give up.
Veltem Motors was an easier second opponent for Saive. Veltem had the same teams against as Webacsa. The team from Leuven lost to times 6-2.
At the end of the day Lebad won more games than Saive which put them on place 1.

Biggest surprise of the competition is of course that Ixelles needs to play the play downs. The champion of 2008 must be strong enough to take place 5. But then they don’t have to play that much meetings as the one against De Nekker.
The team from Mechelen, that will have to play hard to avoid the second division, surprised by beating the Ixelles team 5-3.
The young team of Mont-sur-Marchienne fought well against Ixelles and Pluimplukkers Gent. Unfortunately that was not enough to take points.
The safe place 5 is for Pluimplukkers for the moment. It looks like they feel safe now after beating De Nekker 8-0. That must give a lot of confidence for the final meetings.

Situation after first day of the play offs and play downs

Lebad 4 pts
Saive 1 4 pts
Webacsa 0 pts
Veltem Motors 0 pts

Pluimplukkers 4 pts
Ixelles 2 pts
De Nekker 2 pts
Mont-sur-Marchienne 0 pts

Next meetings are for January 31 in Veltem.

New teams, a few top players leaving the Belgian competition or coming back to the Belgian competition, a lot of important player transfers between the top clubs. This is the start of a competition that can give a lot of exciting moments.

Mont-sur-Marchienne was the place to start the Victor League and from the first day there was already a top meeting planned.
Webacsa, former champion and without Descamps who left the club for the French competition, had to compete Saive 1. The Liège team, strongly reinforced with Sévérine Corvilain , Steffi Daemen, Fréderic Gaspard and Maxime Moreels, could be the strongest candidate to win the title this time.

In all doubles matches Saive 1 scored a little bit better than Webacsa. The doubles disciplines won’t be the problem of the Limburg team, while the single players, and especially the women, will be.
Saive 1 beating Webacsa 7 – 1 looks too hard on this first day.

In the afternoon De Nekker was an easier opponent for Webacsa, although 3 three games matches again, show that Webacsa needs to play better as from now.

Saive 1 maybe thought to have an easy second meeting, but Lebad Kortrijk did not think the same way. Debbie Janssens and Elke Biesbrouck were the two strong girls who won all their matches. Roel Van Heuckelom and Matijs Dierickx played very well too what resulted in a 4 – 4 draw .

Lebad had beaten De Pluiplukkers 7 – 1 in the morning.

Coach Nico Claes had no problems at all with his Team Veltem Motors.
Mont-sur-Marchienne in the morning and De Nekker in the afternoon were easy bites. Two meetings won and a first place at the end of the day for second title candidate Veltem.

Ixelles lost a few talentful players and that could mean that team captain Elie Balligand’s team is no real title candidate anymore.

De Nekker, with a rather small team of players, will have to fight hard to avoid the play downs. Taking points against the weaker teams will be the main mission.

Newcomers De Pluimplukkers and Mont-sur-Marchienne had to compete strong opponents from the first day on and will know already how difficult it wil be to survive in the first division.

After the next competition day we will know more about the value of the strongest teams. Veltem Motors, Ixelles and Saive 1 will meat each other then and may be Webacsa will be the new leader in the Victor League.

The next competition day is played in sports hall Hekers, Zwijnaarde, Gent, where we are received by host club De Pluimplukkers.

Results September 13

Webacsa – Saive 1 – 7

Veltem Motors – De Nekker 7 – 1

Ixelles – Mont-sur-Marchienne 7 – 1

Lebad – De Pluimplukkers 7 – 1

Webacsa – De Nekker 7 – 1

Veltem Motors – Mont-sur-Marchienne 7 – 1

Ixelles – De Pluimplukkers 5 – 3

Lebad – Saive 1 4 – 4

De technische staf van de BBF heeft de ploeg bekendgemaakt voor het individueel wereldkampioenschap, dat van 10-16 augustus wordt gehouden in de Indiase stad Hyderabad.

Vrouwen:
Nathalie Descamps
Steffi Annys
Severine Corvilain
Lianne Tan

Mannen:
Yuhan Tan
Frederic Mawet
Wouter Claes

Coach : Alan McIlvain

===================================================

BELANGRIJKE (INTER)NATIONALE EVENEMENTEN

10-16 augustus: WK individueel, Hyderabad, India
3-6 september: Yonex Badminton International Mechelen

The National Classification Commitee has decided to upgrade the following players to the A classement from 18.06.2009:

Male
BRAZIEWICZ Jérome
DE CLEYN Jorge
GONCETTE Arnaud
MAES Klaas
VAN HERBRUGGEN Stijn
VAN LOOVEREN Steven
VERVAEKE Nathan

Female
BARREZ Silke
DEMY Marie
HIERNAUT Vanessa
LEMAIRE Marine
PHILIPS Charlot


The BBF Classification Committe presents his congratulations to the above players and wish them much success in their new category.

The following players have been downgraded from A to B1 from 18.06.2009 due to insufficient or no results in the A category :

Male
DELVAUX Benoît
JANSSENS Kjell
MORAINE Vincent
PROVOOST Geert
SMET Ralf
VAN BOUWEL Jim
VERVAEKE Kevin

First day of the play offs and play downs showed the spectacle and results that give a first hint about future champion and descender.
As well at the top as at the bottom of course there is still enough tension to have exciting following meetings.

Veltem Motors, youngsters leaded by Wouter and Nico Claes beat Computer Support Webacsa in the first round. Play offs are different and that could be seen on the courts. Doubles results were even but when CS Webacsa took 3 of the 4 singles and that was the start to finish successfully. 6-2 for CS was a great victory.

CSB Ixelles started as first and met in the morning the easiest opponent.
Lebad was motived enough to go for one or two victories.
Surprise in the first match as the spectacular Roel Van Heuckelom and Matijs Dierickx looked to be strong enough to beat Elie Balligand and Loïc De Vrye.
In spite of two additional three games matches Lebad took only one point.
Ixelles – Lebad 7-1.

In the afternoon the two winners of the morning had to play for the first place.
Here too one doubles match for each team. CS went on winning 3 of the 4 singles giving them a lead of 4 to 2. One winning mixed was enough to win 5-3 against the Brussels team.

At the same time Veltem Motors had enough problems beating Lebad.
Matijs Dierickx and Roel Van Heuckelom won the men’s doubles again. Elke Biesbrouck showed her talent in a women’s single, the second mixed was for Lebad too. Just not enough to surprise Veltem. Veltem-Lebad 5-3.

De Nekker Mechelen seems to be too strong in the play downs part.
8-0 against De Dijlevallei and 6-2 against Grâce made it clear to the supporters that De Nekker will have it very easy during the play downs.

No convicted teams yet after this first day. Surprising Grâce played better than in the first round. Saive did not play that well losing a point against De Dijlevallei.
Saive-Grâce would be the exciting meeating of the day.
After doubles and singles Grâce was leading 4-2. Saive had to wait for the mixed doubles to come even.

As well in play offs as in play downs we saw some excinting matches. Tension is raising while all favourite teams keep on competing each other. De Nekker looks safe, the two LFBB-teams will fight each other to avoid the descending.

De Nekker Mechelen on March 15 is the next competition day. After that we have a rest of one month to play the final matches in Kortrijk on April 19.

Host team De Dijlevallei showed a very nice hall for the final meetings of the preliminary rounds of the competition. Webacsa Computer Support and Veltem Teams Motors were playing for places 2 and 3, Lebad and De Nekker for the upper side of the ranking and De Dijlevallei and Grâce for places 7 and 8.

All teams showed much motivation to play for their ranking, although CSB Ixelles was pretty sure of a first place if not losing from Webacsa CS.

Half a day of matches and we would know who would play against each other in the play offs and play downs.
CSB Ixelles did not have that much pressure on their shoulders competing Webacsa CS. The doubles were for the Brussels team, while the results of the single matches brought the teams in a draw situation. Both won a mixed doubles what resulted in a draw for the whole meeting, what confirmed Ixelles on place 1 and Webacsa CS on place 3.

Veltem Motors brought in some youngsters for the matches against De Nekker.
The team from Mechelen had to take one point minimum to have a chance to go to the play offs. Youth against experience, Veltem showed to be the best team.
6-2 in favour of Veltem, enough for the Leuven team to take the second place.

Lebad-Saive was also important for the final ranking. If Lebad won they surely took the last place for the play offs. As from the single matches Lebad made the difference slowly also winning the mixed doubles what showed to be enough for a possibly expected 4th place in the ranking.

The final meeting between De Dijlevallei was also a fight for the very last place in the ranking. De Dijlevallei showed to be very motivated taking the decisive lead as from the ladies singles matches. A nice performance in the own hall De Dijlevallei pushing Grâce into the last place position.

Finally the ranking could be made. Different to last season Lebad will play the play offs, De Nekker needs to play for place 5, what should be no problem at the end of the competition.

At the top we have the same exciting situation as last year, where we had to wait the last day and last matches of the day to see Ixelles taking the title.
Again it looks like they are the strongest team, Veltem now on second place and that could be the place that they will take at the end of the play offs too.

At the bottom it looks like De Dijlevallei and Grâce will not be strong enough to leave the last places as Saive and De Nekker certainly have more experience playing important matches.

So everything ends here like it was expected and as from now we can start with the most important part of the competition looking for the champion and the descenders.

Starting on March 1 in Veltem through March 15 in Mechelen the competition ends on April 19 in Kortrijk. You can follow the competition and the results through toernooi.nl.

The national teams from Engeland, Zwitserland, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Denmark en Sweden are coming  with their U15 national selection in Mechelen to win the prestigious medals of this competition. Everybody should come to see the tomorrow's champions and support the belgian team !!

PROGRAM

Thursday 19 FEBRUARI 2009

• 09.00u OPENINGS CEREMONY
• 09.30u - 19.00u TEAM-GROUP MATCHES

Friday 20 FEBRUARI 2009

• 09.30u Team final
• 14.00u - 21.00u Preliminary Individual tournament

Saterday 21 FEBRUARI 2009

• 09.00u – 18.00u Preliminary and ½ FINALS

ZONDAG 22 FEBRUARI 2009

• 09.00u - 13.00u INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT FINALS

Location
SPORTHAL DE NEKKER – NEKKERSPOEL BORCHT 19 - 2800 MECHELEN

Day number 3 of the competition and finally the favorites competing each other. It was a beautiful day in the Team Veltem Motors hall and at the end of the day we had a first idea who could competite the play offs and the play downs.

Ixelles would have a warming up meeting against De Nekker, we thought, but the Nekkerboys and girls looked to be tougher than expected.
4 three games matches and winners in men’s singles two and women’s singels two were not enough of course to beat the Brussels team.

Computer Support Webacsa and Veltem Motors then to test each other before meeting the Ixelles team.
Nico and Wouter Claes were too strong for Gert Poesen and Edwin Van Dalm but good old Manon Albinus and Nathalie Descamps had a rather easy match against Janne Elst en Jelske Snoeck.
In the singles matches Veltem Motors took the lead by winning 3 of the 4 matches and that proved to be enough to end in a winning position of 5-3.

In spite of 4 three games matches and a winner of Stijn Keijers, Dijlevallei was beaten rather easily by Lebad with 7-1.

The meeting of the LFBB teams Saive 1 and Grâce was not so tight as expected.
6-2 in favour of Saive 1, a good result for them to avoid the dangerous last places.

The second top meeting of the day was Ixelles versus Veltem Motors.
Unfortunately for the spectators the opposition of the Veltem team was rather weak.
Only young talent Stéphanie Van Wel won a match, what pushed Ixelles in a rather easy way to the leading position in the first division.

Saive 1, Lebad and Computer Support did not have too much problems in the other meetings. Saive 1 beat De Dijlevallei and that means no points at all for the Dijleteam just before the last day of the preliminary round.

Youngster Matijs Dierickx was the only loser for Lebad versus Grâce.
Winning 7-1 brings the Lebad team on the 5th place in the preliminary ranking.

And finally Computer Support Webacsa beat De Nekker 6-2.
First men’s single Gert Poesen could not break oldie Wim Dhooghe and Sofie Robbrecht resisted an upcoming injury to beat Sofie Nouwkens.

Still half a day to go and then we have the teams for play offs and play downs.
Just like the season before the numbers 1 to 3 are rather sure for Ixelles, Veltem Motors and Computer Support Webacsa, place 4 will be a fight between De Nekker and Lebad and at the base it looks like Grâce and Dijlevallei will have to struggle hard to survive in first division.

If you want to see how it ends all, come to Kessel-Lo, Stadionlaan 4, om Sunday February 15 from 10.30 to 14.00 hours.

Due to a lack of available sport halls the second day of the national competition was played in Erpe-Mere.
Again no favorites competiting each other what does not mean that we could not enjoy beautiful matches.

Ixelles and Grâce started the first meeting of the day. The Grâce team knew rather fast that Ixelles played on a high level again. Only Isabelle Tinant could avoid the 0 on their side.

Of course Computer Webacsa was too strong for newcomer Dijlevallei. Stijn Keijers in men’s single one, Tom Dejongh in men’s single two and Steven Van Looveren/Kristien Smets however forced their strong opponents to play three games.

Lebad had to compete Team Veltem Motors and the result was not a blame for the Kortrijk team.
Sabine Devooght and Maité Lamont played a strong women’s doubles, Roel Van Heuckelom en Sabine again took the second winning match of the day.

De Nekker and Saive 1 played a meeting to compete the play offs later in the season. The Mechelen team beat the rivals 5/3.

In the first meeting of the afternoon the Dijlevallei second women’s single Kristien Smets took one and the only point against Ixelles. A hard day for Dijlevallei that could only win match during the whole day.

Computer Webacsa Support had to wait the mixed doubles matches to be sure to win the meeting against Lebad. The first surprise was the loss of Gert Poesen and Edwin Van Dalm against Roel Van Heuckelom and Matijs Dierickx. Fortunately for the Wellen team Gert and Edwin won their mixed doubles matches.

Team Veltem Motors was much too strong for Saive 1. Only Raphaël Van Wel had to leave a match against Jonathan Gillis.

De Nekker and Grâce played the only draw of the day. Good for both parties however, for loosing this meeting would have put some pressure for the next days.

Looking forward now to next week when some favourites will meet each other for the first time.
 

Hello,

Here are the main modifications that will be applied this season for the BBAC. We called it "Working tool" as the FBB council would like to "test" it becore it become the new regulation.

Please have a look at it or read the whole document.

Beste spelers, chèrs joueurs

J'ai le plaisir de vous transmettre la sélection pour l'European Mixed Team Championships
Ik heb het genoegen u de selectie voor de European Mixed Team Championships mede te delen

MEN: Wouter Claes | Fred Mawet | Yuhan Tan | Frederic Gaspard

WOMEN: Nathalie Descamps | Lianne Tan | Severine Corvilain | Steffi Annys

Groeten salutations

Marina

Please find below some information on the European Senior Games 2009 which will be held in the province Zeeland of the Netherlands, from 7 until 11 September 2009.

The event is open for badminton players +50 years old.

General information about the Senior Games 2009:
http://www.seniorgames2009.com/

Information about the badminton-event:
http://www.seniorgames2009.nl/sporten/show/badminton
(the information on this page will be extended shortly)

The Badminton Registration page:
http://www.roompotparcs.com/seniorgames/&lng=en

Badminton Europe is not directly involved in this event and will not be able to assist with further information.

Kind regards,

Brian Agerbak
General Secretary
Badminton Europe

Pour des raisons indépendantes à notre volonté, le tirage au sort du Championnat de Belgique A aura lieu le mardi 13 janvier 2009 à 19.00 au siège de la LFBB au lieu du 16 initialement prévu. Je vous remercie d’en tenir compte.

Door onvoorziene omstandigheden zal de loting van het belgische kampioenschap A op dinsdag 13 januari 2009 om 1900 uur op het hoofdkantoor van de LFBB plaatsvinden in plaats van de initieel voorziene vrijdag 16 januari. Gelieve daarmee rekening te houden.

A very happy New Year to all of you!

And the new year immediately starts with a top level Badminton event this week in Herstal. As from Friday, come and support our Belgian youngsters at the second edition of the Yonex Belgian Junior in Herstal. It is an unique opportunity for you all to watch our international youth players compete with their colleagues from other European nations. May the best win!

The Yonex Belgian Junior 2009 will be staged at:

Rue E. Muraille 158 - 4040 Herstal

For the shedule, look at www.competitions.be 

See you all there!

After further checking, the National Classification Commitee has decided to upgrade the following 2 players to the A classement from 10.01.2009 :

Female
DESCHEEMAECKER Sofie
VAN WEL Stéphanie

The BBF Classification Committe presents his congratulations to the above 2 players and wish them much success in their new category.

The National Classification Commitee has decided to upgrade the following players to the A classement from 10.01.2009 :
Male
ABTS Birger
BARMECHA Anurag
DEGEN Alexis
DIERICKX Matijs
GOLINSKI Freek
HARDY Bruno
PIERRE Nicolas
Female
GODFROID Justine
VANMOER Florence
The BBF Classification Committe presents his congratulations to the above players and wish them much success in their new category.

The following players have been downgraded from A to B1 from 10.01.2009 due to insufficient or no results in the A category :
Male
BUSET Laurent
DAEMS Jan
DE GROOTE Tomas
DELSAERT Steven
KOCH Laurent
LECLERE Jérémy
NYS Kurt
PLOUY Lieven
VANDEWINKEL David
Female
CLAES Katrien
HERRLE Corina
LAGUESSE Sophie
SERVAES Nathalie
VAN LANDSCHOOT Isabel

The prestigious Eburons Dome in Hasselt was the place to be for the start of the new competition in first division.
The succesful formula of the last season did not change, what means that 8 teams gather in the same hall to play against two other teams each, one opponent in the morning and a second one in the afternoon.

We had to say good luck to the teams of Dropshot and Cardinal Mercier and could welcome our two newcomers Grâce and De Dijlevallei.

The competition with preliminary rounds and play offs and play downs afterwards keeps the top teams far away from each other during the first days, and that means that our newcomers had a hard day in Tongeren.

Veltem Motors Team started faultless against Grâce and won 8-0.
Champions team Ixelles against Lebad, Computer Support Webacsa against Saive 1 and De Nekker against De Dijlevallei had a smooth start also beating their opponents with the same scores of 6-2.

New players in first division and winning their singles from the first time :
Matijs Dierickx ( Lebad ) against Julien Warnotte, Steven Van Looveren ( De Dijlevallei ) beating Gerrit Scoliers and Leen Sijmens ( De Dijlevallei ) beating Kelly Scoliers.

In the afternoon we had about the same results. Veltem Motors did not leave a point to neighbour team De Dijlevallei. Ixelles left two matches to Lebad, Computer Support Webacsa did the same against Saive 1. Youngsters Damien Maquet against Steven Knaepen and Isabelle Tinant against Sofie Nouwkens took two points for the Grâce team.
De Nekker and Lebad had a tight meeting with a few long and surprising matches.
Their second mixed doubles closed the meeting with a draw and also the day.

The first day was well organised with a nice team presentation in front of spectators and fans.

Of course we all are very delighted with the return of Nathalie Descamps and Sofie Robbrecht to the Belgian competition. We lost Lionel Warnotte and Steffie Annys to foreign teams, but we are sure that the young talented players in several teams will show enough caracter and spirit to replace them in an efficient way.

In this first overview I want to thank our main sponsor Victor for their financial and material support. Also thanks to the club sponsors making it possible to show well dressed and strong teams.

All results of the first meetings, and all other days, can be consulted on toernooi.nl.

And if you want to be part of this total event, you are invited to Erpe-Mere where the next meetings will be held on December 7.

See you there.

Yuhan Tan and Nathalie Descamps not to Olympic Games of Beijing!

The Belgian Olympic Committee decided not to withhold the selection of Belgian highest ranked Ladies and Mens Singles player. Although they both received an invitation from the BWF. The BBF regrets this decision of the BOIC. BOIC has put extremely hard selection criteria to its Badminton players. These selection criteria are nowhere in the world that strong.

We are pleased to inform you that the BBF has decided to upgrade the following players to the A classement falling within the conditions of BBF regulation C700 (art. 707 (ex A players) or art. 712 (others):

Male players
Lauwers Dries
Legrand Jérôme (ex A)
Maquet Nicolas
Simkens Thomas
Van Durme Frederic

Female players
Dambermont Audrey
Defraiteur Carole (ex A)
Hardy Cécile
Van Praet Sofie

The BBF council and the BBF classification committee both wish to extend their congratulations to the above players.

The following players have been downgraded from A to B1 due to insufficient or no results in the A category:

Male players
Bertemes Loic (on its own request)
Braem Benjamin (on its own request)
Gennaux Philippe
Huts Kristof
Peeters Olivier
Verbruggen Steven
Verpoorten Gregory
Wouters Tim

Female players
Aerts Liesbeth
Donnay Marie-Christine
Kaiser Virginie
Monseré Isabelle
Rompen Marie
Soenens An

Any questions regarding the above decision can be raised to the BBF classification committee.

At a meeting of the National Technical Staff and in consultation with the President of Belgium Badminton Federation, the following decision was taken with regard to the National Coaches’ role during domestic tournaments.

• Where possible National Coaches will avoid taking breaks for matches between National Squad Players at U17, U19 and Senior Events.
• This should also include pre-match coaching although post match feedback will be allowed.
• It is therefore requested that National squad players receive no coaching during matches between each other.
• If however, a player/pair chooses to receive coaching from a personal coach, club coach, friend or relative, then their opponents will have the right to ask any coach (including National Coaches) to help them during the match.
• National coaches are deemed to be coaches working regularly at National Squads with players from both VBL and LFBB.
• All National squad players will be responsible for finding out whether their opponents will receive coaching.
• All players should act within the spirit of this protocol and not try to deceive their opponents by giving false information

It is with pleasure that I attach the invitations for the qualifiers for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for Stage One. On behalf of the BWF, I would like to congratulate the players who have qualified for this most prestigious sporting event.

Please note that the BWF has adjusted the World Rankings (WRs) of 1 May based on 9 successful appeals in cases related to Competition Regulations 5.5 where WR points were adjusted before publication 1 May.

There are a number of stages or rounds until the full quota of athletes is achieved. Please see the BWF website for more information on Olympic Games Qualification Regulations and below for the stages in the process.
Member Associations should note that any extra places created by doubles players who have qualified in two doubles disciplines will be allocated to next qualified men’s and women’s singles players.

Olympic Qualifying Regulations for Beijing 2008
30 April
Olympic Qualifying Period ends.
1 May
BWF ranking list to be used to determine the qualification.
2-9 May
BWF determines the list of qualified player/pairs.
10 May
BWF notifies Member Associations of qualified players/pairs
The names of “next qualified” / “reserves” will be announced along with the qualifiers.
31 May
Member Associations/NOCs confirm to BWF on their selection of qualified players/pairs.
11 June
Reallocation of places where a NOC has not confirmed the entry of a player/pair qualified in the list of 1 May.
15 June
BWF notifies Member Associations of further qualified players/pairs.
29 June
Reallocation of places where an NOC has not confirmed the entry of a player/pair qualified in the list of 11 June.
April -July
The Tripartite Commission confirms, in writing, the allocation of Invitation places to the NOC’s.
23 July
Deadline for BOCOG to receive entry forms submitted by NOC’s Olympic Games
24 July
Seeds published - seeds based on World Ranking of 1 May 2008 (8 seeds MS and WS, and 4 seeds in MD, WD and MXD )
4 August
Public draw to be made at Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium. The exact time is to be confirmed.
9 August
Badminton Competition for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games starts.

Olympic List: MS - MD - WS - WD - XD

The European championships are over. I can describe my performance in one word: disappointing.
It was my first European championships and I was very hungry and motivated to play good. Unfortunately things didn’t turn out the way I wanted, I failed to deliver a good performance.

I lost in the first round to swiss player christian bosinger. I am still a little confused at the moment as I don’t really know where it went wrong. My preparation and my shape were good before the tournament but during the match I just couldn’t get my game going.
The first set I started off too anxious, making some bad shot choices. Before I knew what was happening the gap was already too big and I couldn’t catch up with him anymore. I lost 21-15.
The second game I was determined to make a good start and get into my game. I made a little less mistakes and I won 21-17.
Then the 3rd set was a little mix of set 1 and 2. Some parts I played ok, while other parts I kept making easy mistakes which gave him easy and fast points. The beginning of the 3rd set was looking promising for me as I got a 10-6 lead. But then I made some unacceptable mistakes. He took the lead halfway 11-10. It was a match again.
After that I went up to 15-12, but from that point mistakes came again and I only managed to score 2 more points. I lost the match 21-17.

It was a horrible experience for me to lose in such a prestigious tournament the way I did. I really wanted to perform good, maybe I wanted too much and it all worked against me, I don’t know.
On the other hand I know I have been improving and playing good the last couple months. Maybe I just shouldn’t let this bad loss affect me this much.

This week I will play in Canada to play my last tournament in the Olympic race. Seen from the entries it will be a very strong tournament with many top 20 players. Most of these players are playing to make sure they can be number 1 ranked of their country so that also they have a chance to qualify for the Olympics.
It is not so good news for me, but I am very hungry to compete with them and make up for my disappointment in the Europeans.
I will be ready and I will try to play my game again.

In the first round of the EC held in Herning (Denmark) Yuhan Tan lost his match against Christian Boesigner (SUI) in three sets (15-21 21-17 17-21). Both players had little option if they wanted to present their country at the Olympics in Bejing, winning was the most important thing. Yuhan, who already got his place on the dummie list for the Olympics (based on the selections criteria made by Badminton World and the IOC), had the best cards in this duel. Unlike Yuhan his opponent did not do very well in the last tournaments.

This season Yuhan has already lost two times of Christian, although overall Yuhan got better results then the Swiss. He played against other European top players and even managed to defeat some of them. For example Yuhan won against Petr Koukal (CZE) and Ville Lang (Fin) in previous matches. Both players certainly will be present at the Olympics.

Next week Yuhan plays in Canada, if he can get a good result, the will hold his place on the dummy list. On that moment the Belgian Badminton Federation will defend his selection with a very strong dossier. Yuhan’s strongest point is that he is the youngest European player on the dummy list and is capable to finish with the last eight. Even an Olympic medal in 2012 is possible for the Belgian’s talent. Experience in Bejing 2008 will certainly be a huge advantage in Yuhan’s development.

We hope that every Belgian Badminton lover keep their fingers crossed during the tournament in Canada. He can use all the support he gets. We certainly believe in Yuhan wish him the best. All his results an his blog can be followed on the websites of the Belgian and Flemish Badminton federation.

I got back from Cuba on Monday night. It was a long trip and I was happy when I got out of the plane and got some fresh air again.
The tournament went very well, I went there with a purpose to win and I am very satisfied that could reach my goal.

The Cuban Open was played in the capital Havana. Cuba is very famous for cigars and rum and unfortunately also for its strong winds and even hurricanes. Playing conditions weren’t easy. The weather was hot and wind was blowing hard even in the hall. Natural air-conditioning locals call it.
The first day there was so much draft that from one side it was impossible to hit the shuttle out while from the other side it was exactly opposite. Luckily it was just a practise day and eventually during the tournament weather was calm and sunny.
My way to the final went quite smooth. In the semis I played a local Cuban player who was surprisingly good. Cuban players have quite a decent level, they just have very little opportunities to play tournaments outside their country. I won rather easily, 11 and 13 but I had to play my best.
Then the finals against Raju, I played him so many times in practise and usually it’s a close game.
The first set I was leading 19-12 but then I started to relax too much. Raju came back until 20-19 but then I managed to get my concentration back and I won the first set 21-19.
The second set was much tougher, we were head to head all the way until 19-19 and we both were getting quite tired. Because of the wind I was having problems finding the right timing and impact of my attacks. This was definitely in favour of Raju as he is more of a defensive/ rally player. Fortunately just like the first set, I played good in the critical points and I won with the same score, 21-19.
It wasn’t an easy win, and it’s definitely not easy playing a good friend like Raju. We are both practising hard, we both need the points and only one of us could win.
By winning this tournament I got 1700 points. It will help me quite a lot and it definitely came at a right time now the Olympic race is going to its final stage. I have been looking at the rankings and I will probably move up to the 74th place, which means that I will pass 3 ‘Olympic’ opponents.
The European Championships in 2 weeks will be deciding for everybody. I have rejoined practise today, after a having a day off. My coach straight gave me very hard sessions which I will most likely still feel for a couple days.
Keep in touch :-)

The Belgian Badminton Federation would like to express its condolences to the family and friends of badminton icon Addy Regelbrugge, who passed away in Hasselt on 23 March 2008. Addy was one of the founding fathers of the current badminton topsport climate. He was our first professional, always hard-working and very dedicated. Addy has been involved with the national team for over 25 years until he retired as national coach about 4 years ago. He has coached many of our current top players and has reached the Olympic Games twice with our two Olympic Athletes, Pedro Vanneste and Ruud Kuyten. Many will remember Addy for its enthusiastic style and all admire him. Without Addy, Belgian Badminton would not be where it is today. We all thank Addy and wish all the best to its family.

In the finals of this tournament, he has beaten his close rival for an Olympic ticket and training partner Raj Rayu of the USA in two close sets. This win ensures another 1700 points for the World Ranking. These points are very important to stay ahead of some of his close competitors for an Olympic sport, Magnus Sahlberg, Raj Rayu and Jurgen Koch. After Cuba, Yuhan will now prepare for the European Championships in Denmark in two weeks. Would Yuhan be able to reach the final 8 of these Championships (Quarter Final), he will be sure of a qualification for the Olympics. The European Championships take place in Herning (Denmark). Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for one more month and support Yuhan as much as we possibly can!

It has been a while since i last updated my blog.. I have been very busy with tournaments recently and there wont be an end of it until the end of the Olympic qualification which is the end of April.

Last week I was in croatia, Last year I made it to the quarter finals there but this year I lost in the first round. I wasn’t playing good, I was feeling sick the night before and even the same morning as my match I was still vomiting. I still tried to play the match and fight as much as I could but I had not enough strength and sharpness to play normal. Many of the players here in Saarbrucken are not feeling very good these days. Many of us got sick and there have been quite little players showing up in practise. I guess when somebody gets sick it’s very easy to spread the sickness as we are living together 24/7.
Tomorrow I will leave to Portugal, I hope I will feel totally fit by then because I wasn’t feeling very good today again. There is never a good timing to get sick, but for sportsmen like us timing cant be worse.
I still have 2 bad results in my ranking points which I need to replace soon and I hope after Portugal a little less tension will be on my shoulders.
I will try my best, Wish me all good luck :-)

I just got back in saarbrucken from the Thomas cup. We finished our matches yesterday with a 3-2 loss against Bulgaria. Only I and our first doubles managed to score points for the team. Overall we became 3 rd in our group, we won against Portugal, which is the first time as far as I remember. I was happy to win my singles against Macro Vasconcales who is a little higher ranked than me. I still remember my loss against him in the Sudirman cup in June which caused Belgium to lose 2-3 that time. This time I won, and so did our team with a 3-2 score. Our other group match against Poland left me with a lot of frustration. We lost with a clear 5-0 but some matches could have gone our way including my singles. I was up one set and leading 20-17 in the 2 nd set against Wacha (16 th in the world) when things started to go wrong. My ex-coach, the Korean Kim Young Man, who is now coaching the Polish team told me after the match that I played extremely well for 40 minutes and bad for 1 minute. I guess he was right because from that lead I couldn’t finish the match and my opponent came back to 20-all when I had another match point at 21-20 but like the previous ones I couldn’t finish it again. The set ended up 24-22 for him and in the 3 rd I lost the momentum and the match was all his. Instead of it being the biggest win of my career so far it became one of the biggest disappointments. Now I can only try to take the positive things out off it and learn from the mistakes I made at those critical points but … it’s not easy when you’re so close and after all it doesn’t matter how close you were, as only the final result counts. It was hard, but hopefully I will learn something from it. Tomorrow practise will start again. I can’t afford to take some time off because I need to keep in shape for the Austrian international which will start next, week. I’m drawn to play Raul Must from Estonia, a tough draw. He is one of my training partners here in saarbrucken and we know each others game pretty well. Maybe we could play the match here in saarbrucken instead of going all the way to Austria, it would save some money for the loser :-)

From 21th till 24th of February the 8-nations takes place. This is an exclusive U15 event and consists in 2 parts of 2 days each : a team event and an individual event. The team and / or the individual players that win the event can call themselves "European Champion U 15".

The team event is played first, followed by the individual event. Belgium will delegate 6 boys and 5 girls to participate. Belgium will play three countries in a pool and will then play one more country for a final position amongst the 8 strongest badminton countries of Europe.

The preselection of the Belgian team is the following

• sofie descheemaecker
• stephanie van wel
• angela castillo
• leen sijmens
• marie demie
• marine lemaire

• klaas maes
• robin permentiers
• jitse van hemelrijck
• bram van cauwenberghe
• michiel filliaert
• marijn put
• thijs demeyere
• nick marcoen
• simon eeckhout
• khang lê

The final selection will be announced by the first week of February.