Wales national badminton team

Wales
AssociationBadminton Wales (BW)
ConfederationBE (Europe)
PresidentCath McCluskey
BWF ranking
Current ranking97 Decrease 14 (3 October 2023)
Highest ranking36 (7 January 2013)
Sudirman Cup
Appearances8 (first in 1993)
Best resultGroup stage
European Mixed Team Championships
Appearances21 (first in 1972)
Best resultQuarter-finals (1974, 1984, 1986)
European Men's Team Championships
Appearances6 (first in 2004)
Best resultQuarter-finals (2008)
European Women's Team Championships
Appearances6 (first in 2004)
Best resultGroup stage
Helvetia Cup
Appearances14 (first in 1969)
Best resultRunners-up (1983, 1985, 1987)

The Wales national badminton team (Welsh: Tîm badminton cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in international badminton team competitions.[1] It is controlled by Badminton Wales, the national organization for badminton in the country. Wales have never participated in the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup. The team's last appearance in the international stage was at the 2007 Sudirman Cup.

The Welsh team had participated in the 2020 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships but were defeated in the group stage.

History

Badminton has been played in Wales since the early 1920s. Welsh players then competed in the All England Open Badminton Championships and the Welsh International Championships. In 1928, Badminton Wales (then called the Welsh Badminton Union) was formed. Wales was also one of the nine founder members of the Badminton World Federation.[2][3]

The Welsh national team competed in their first ever international team event when its first few players were sent to qualify for the 1955 Thomas Cup.

Former national player Chris Rees was selected to be the performance coach of the Welsh national badminton team in 2020.[4]

Men's team

The Welsh men's team first competed in the 1955 Thomas Cup qualifiers. The team failed to advance to the inter-zone elimination round after losing 9−0 to Denmark on home soil.[5] The men's team returned to qualify for the 1984 Thomas Cup after a long hiatus.[5] The team beat Finland and the Netherlands 4−1 but lost their chances of entering the second round after losing 4−1 to Sweden. In the qualifiers for the 1986 Thomas Cup, the team won against Finland and Norway but failed to advance further after losing to England.[5]

In the 1990 Thomas Cup qualifiers, the Welsh team made history after they advanced to the semi-final stages for the first time, beating Bulgaria, Spain and Kenya in their group. They then lost to Sweden and Canada in the semi-final stages and failed to edge out against Austria.[5]

The Welsh team competed in the inaugural edition of the European Men's Team Badminton Championships in 2006 but were halted in the group stage.[6] They showed improvement two years later in the 2008 European Men's Team Badminton Championships by not only advancing to the quarter-finals but also topping the group for the very first time.[7] The team were defeated by Germany in the quarter-finals.[8]

Women's team

The Welsh women's team took part in qualifying for the 1986 Uber Cup. The team lost in the first round group stage to Germany, England and Ireland.[9] In the 1996 Uber Cup qualifiers, the team entered the second round after beating Slovenia, Austria and Spain but lost in the second round group stage to Denmark, Scotland and India.[9] The women's team entered the second round for the next few Uber Cup qualifiers but did not advance further.[9]

The women's team also competed in the 2006 European Women's Team Badminton Championships. They failed to get past the group stages.[10]

Mixed team

The Welsh mixed team first competed in the 1969 Helvetia Cup and finished in 5th place. In the 1970 Helvetia Cup, the Welsh team beat Norway in the third place tie.[11] The team also competed in the inaugural edition of the European Mixed Team Badminton Championships in 1972 but were eliminated in the group stages.[12] The team were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 1974 European Mixed Team Championships.

The Welsh team made history by entering the 1983 Helvetia Cup. They lost the final to Germany.[11] The team entered the Helvetia Cup finals two consecutive times in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Netherlands and Germany respectively.[11]

Competitive record

Commonwealth Games

See also: Badminton at the Commonwealth Games

European Team Championships

Helvetia Cup

Year Result
Switzerland 1962 Did not enter
West Germany 1963
Netherlands 1964
Austria 1965
Belgium 1966
Switzerland 1967
Norway 1968
Czechoslovakia 1969 Group stage − 5th
West Germany 1970 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third place
Netherlands 1971 Group stage − 8th
Austria 1973 Group stage − 8th
Belgium 1975 Group stage − 5th
Soviet Union 1977 Group stage − 6th
Austria 1979 Fourth place
Norway 1981 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Third place
Switzerland 1983 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up
Poland 1985 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up
Northern Ireland 1987 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runners-up
Hungary 1989 Fourth place
Bulgaria 1991 Fourth place
Austria 1993 Group stage − 10th
Cyprus 1995 Did not enter
France 1997
Northern Ireland 1999
Czech Republic 2001
Portugal 2003
Cyprus 2005
Iceland 2007
**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Junior competitive record

Suhandinata Cup

See also: BWF World Junior Championships
Year Result
China 2000 Did not enter
South Africa 2002
Canada 2004
South Korea 2006
New Zealand 2007
India 2008
Malaysia 2009
Mexico 2010
Chinese Taipei 2011
Japan 2012
Thailand 2013
Malaysia 2014
Peru 2015
Spain 2016
Indonesia 2017
Canada 2018
Russia 2019
Spain 2022
United States 2023
N/A 2024 TBD

Commonwealth Youth Games

Mixed team

Year Result
Australia 2004 Did not enter

European Junior Team Championships

See also: European Junior Badminton Championships

Mixed team

Year Result
Denmark 1975 Group stage − 11th
Malta 1977 Did not enter
West Germany 1979 Group stage − 12th
Scotland 1981 Group stage − 7th
Finland 1983 Group stage − 8th
Austria 1985 Group stage − 8th
Poland 1987 Group stage − 11th
England 1989 Group stage − 12th
Hungary 1991 Group stage − 12th
Bulgaria 1993 Group stage − 9th
Slovakia 1995 Group stage − 16th
Czech Republic 1997 Did not enter
Scotland 1999
Poland 2001
Denmark 2003
Netherlands 2005
Germany 2007
Italy 2009 Group stage
Finland 2011 Group stage
Turkey 2013 Group stage
Poland 2015 Did not enter
France 2017
Estonia 2018
Finland 2020
Serbia 2022
Spain 2024 TBD

Finlandia Cup

Mixed team

Year Result
Switzerland 1984 Fourth place
Hungary 1986 Group stage − 9th
Wales 1988 Group stage − 5th
Austria 1990 Group stage − 5th
Czechoslovakia 1992 Group stage − 5th
Czech Republic 1994 Did not enter
Portugal 1996 Group stage − 7th
Finland 1998 Group stage − 8th
Austria 2000 Group stage − 10th
Slovenia 2002 Group stage − 19th
Austria 2004 Group stage − 8th
Slovakia 2006 Group stage − 15th
**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Staff

The following list shows the coaching staff for the national badminton of Wales.

Name Role
Wales Daniel Font Head coach
Wales Luke Bailey Support coach
Wales Chris Rees Performance coach

Players

Current squad

Men's team

Name DoB/Age Ranking of event
MS MD XD
Andrew Oates (1999-07-29) 29 July 1999 (age 24) 1415 283 229
Nic Strange (1987-03-26) 26 March 1987 (age 36) - - -
Andrew Jones (1997-10-11) 11 October 1997 (age 26) - 554 -
Adam Stewart (1996-03-18) 18 March 1996 (age 27) 1531 554 -
Mo Tsung Fong (1997-05-16) 16 May 1997 (age 26) - - -
Victor Pang (1994-05-11) 11 May 1994 (age 29) - - -
William Kitching (1996-06-12) 12 June 1996 (age 27) - - -
Scott Oates (1998-04-10) 10 April 1998 (age 25) - 283 -

Women's team

Name DoB/Age Ranking of event
WS WD XD
Jordan Hart (1995-01-26) 26 January 1995 (age 28) - 109 -
Jessica Ding (2003-11-27) 27 November 2003 (age 19) 1058 - -
Learna Herkes (2003-10-13) 13 October 2003 (age 20) - - -
Jasmine Owen (2004-03-04) 4 March 2004 (age 19) - - -
Aimie Whiteman (2003-05-23) 23 May 2003 (age 20) 1000 554 1018
Saffron Morris (2007-07-03) 3 July 2007 (age 16) 468 369 229
Alice Palmer (1992-02-26) 26 February 1992 (age 31) - - -
Katie Whiteman (2000-10-13) 13 October 2000 (age 23) - - -

Previous squads

Sudirman Cup

European Team Championships

References

  1. ^ "2007 Sudirman Cup - Groups" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-05-28.
  2. ^ "History". badmintonwales.net. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  3. ^ "Badminton Wales - Brief History". Badminton Wales. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Badminton Wales welcomes Chris Rees as Performance Coach". www.badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  5. ^ a b c d "Archiv Thomas Cup". Mike's Badminton Populorum. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  6. ^ "BWF - 2006 European M & W Team Championships - General". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  7. ^ "BWF - European Men's & Women's Team Championships 2008 - General". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  8. ^ "BWF - European Men's & Women's Team Championships 2008 - Germany - Wales: 3-0". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  9. ^ a b c "Uber Cup Results". World Badminton. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  10. ^ "BWF - 2006 European M & W Team Championships - General". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  11. ^ a b c "EBU-Turniere / Europameisterschaften im Detail Helvetia Cup (B-Klasse Mannschaften)". Mike's Badminton Populorum. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  12. ^ "BadmintonEurope.com - European Mixed Team Championships". badmintoneurope.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.