THE best badminton players in the country will converge in Bendigo next month for the return of the Australian National Championships.<\/p>\n
Not only will players compete for individual glory, but they will also be playing for a spot on the Australian team at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July.<\/p>\n
President of the Bendigo Eaglehawk Badminton Association, Sam Daykin, said it\u2019s great the first national badminton tournament of 2022 will be in Bendigo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will see the profile of badminton in Bendigo gain some prominent coverage and hopefully grow our participation rates and see some junior and senior players join the association and want to play badminton,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Australian Tokyo Olympians Hsuan-yu Wendy Chen and Gronya Somerville will be competing, as well as upcoming players Jack Yu, Kaitlin Ea and Angela Yu.<\/p>\n
The BEBA has previously held under 19 and under 17 national carnivals, as well as the 2005 Youth Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n
Daykin said the association has put their hand up to host the badminton event at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, likely to be held across regional Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a world class stadium solely designed for badminton, with 16 dedicated courts\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOut of the three major regional cities in Victoria, Bendigo, Ballarat or Geelong, we probably have the best stadium, I\u2019d like to think we\u2019re in the running with a high chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The National Championships begin on Sunday, 10 April with a teams\u2019 event until Tuesday, 12 April and then the individual tournament from the Wednesday to Friday.<\/p>\n
Tickets will be available at the door, at the Bendigo Eaglehawk Badminton Stadium on Victoria Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE best badminton players in the country will converge in Bendigo next month for the return of the Australian National Championships. Not only will players compete for individual glory, but they will also be playing for a spot on the Australian team at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July. President of the Bendigo Eaglehawk […]<\/p>\n