Evans, who is seeded fifth for the tournament, beat two other Danish players to make the last eight. He dropped the opening set of his first round match against against Emil Holst of Denmark, but then took the next two sets for victory. Against qualifier Joshua Eipe, in the second round, he cruised to a straight sets victory

Mens Singles:

Round 32: Scott Evans (IRE) (5) bt Emil Holst (DEN) 2-1 (16-21, 21-13, 21-19)

Round 16: Scott Evans (IRE) (5) bt Joshua Eipe (DEN) 2-0 (21-13, 21-16).

Quarter Final: Scott Evans (IRE) (5) Vs Viktor Axelsen (DEN) (1)

In the final the Irish paid went down to the Germans Fuchs and Michels, 17-21 in the 3^rd game, a pair with a highest ranking of 6 in the World this year.

In the ladies Singles Chloe Magee faced home favourite Patty Stolzenbach. Chloe continuing on from her earlier success on the mixed once again looked in good form as she took the opening set 21-15. Magee started the second well going 3-0 up when Stolzenbach had to withdraw to injury. Next up for Chloe in the round of 16 was French player Perrine Le Buhanic. Chloe had beaten Perrine earlier this Season in the European Team Championships but she did not take the game for granted as the French number one is hugely powerful and explosive so could not be underestimated. The Irish number one once again controlled her opponent as she eased out another comfortable victory winning 21-16 21-12 to book her place in the Quarter finals. In the quarters she played Ksenia Polikarpova and again took another straight set victory 21-16 21-15 to set up her second semi-final of the day. In the semi-final Chloe faced Beatriz Corrales of Spain the number six seed for the event. Corrales was in good form in this event as she had earlier beat Petya Nedelcheva who is ranked 23 in the World. The Spanish player was one game too many for Chloe as she lost out in 2 sets.

Remember you can follow the player’s progress on www.badmintonireland.com the badminton Ireland facebook page and @Bad_min_ton on twitter for all the latest updates on the upcoming events.

Womens Singles:

Round 32

Chloe Magee (IRE) (3) Vs Patty Stolzenbach (NED) Won 21-15 3-0

Round 16

Chloe Magee (IRE) (3) Vs Perrine Le Buhanic (FRA) Won 21-16 21-12

Quarter Final

Chloe Magee (IRE) (3) Vs Ksenia Polikarpova (RUS) Won 21-16 21-15

Semi Final

Chloe Magee (IRE) (3) Vs Beatriz Corrales (ESP) Lost 21-14 21-15

Mixed Doubles:

Round 32

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Anthony Dumartheray & Sabrina Jaquet (SUI) Won 21-12 21-23 21-16

Round 16

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Peter Kaesbauer & Isabel Herttrich (GER) (3) Won 14-21 21-12 21-16

Quarter Final

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Jim Middelburg & Selena Piek (NED) Won 16-21-16 21-14 25-23

Semi Final

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Baptiste Careme & Lorraine Baumann (FRA) Won 21-11 21-15

Final

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Michael Fuchs Birgit Michels (GER) (1) Lost  14-21 21-18 17-21

At the All Englands, starting on Tuesday in Birmingham, Evans faces No 2 seed Mohamed Arif Abdul Latif in the men’s qualifying tournament, while Magee will play Karina Jorgensen of Denmark in the women’s qualifier. Sam and Chloe Magee are drawn against Indonesian pair Praveen Jordan and Vita Marissa Vita in the mixed doubles qualifier.

Men’s Singles

Last 64

Scott Evans (IRE) Vs Lukas Schmidt (GER) Won 21-18 17-21 21-15

Last 32

Scott Evans (IRE) Vs Sho SASAKI (JAP) [3] Lost 21-9 21-23 14-21

Ladies Singles:

Last 32

Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Natalia Perminova (RUS) Lost 24-26 20-22

Mixed Doubles:

Qualification RD 1

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Anders SKAARUP RASMUSSEN & Lena GREBAK (DEN) Won 17-21 21-14 15-21

Qualification RD 2

Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Arun VISHNU & Aparna BALAN (IND) lost 21-19 21-12

Ireland had a number of good wins in the opening match including Scott Evans Irish number one beating one of Europe’s best players in Ville Lang.

Lang is ranked 10 places higher at 46 on the world rankings.

Next up for the Irish will be a match against Israel at 18:00 Russian time.

The remaining group game will be against the number 6 seeds France.

Remember to follow @bad_min_ton and Badminton Ireland Facebook page for the latest updates on the event.

Mixed Doubles: Sam Magee & Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs Anton Kasti & Sanni Rautala (FIN) won 18-21 21-17 21-13

Men’s Singles: Scott Evans (IRE) Vs Ville Lang (FIN) Won 21-16 21-13

Ladies Singles: Chloe Magee (IRE) Vs  Airi Mikkela (FIN) Won 21-12 21-11

Men’s Doubles: Scott Evans & Sam Magee (IRE) Vs Ville Lang & Eetu Heino (FIN) Won 21-15 21-17

Women’s Doubles: Jennie King & Sinead Chambers (IRE) Vs Airi Mikkela & Sanni Rautala (FIN) lost 21-12 21-16

Inspired by the Olympians the under 15 National Championships running alongside the seniors saw Dublin’s Sam McKay beat Ulster’s Chin Nam Soong 21-9, 21-6 and Munster’s Moya Ryan beat Dublin’s Kate Frost 21-17, 21-13 to take the u15 Singles title.

In the Mixed Doubles Sam Magee/Chloe Magee (pictured) won in 2 straight sets against Tony Murphy/Jennie King 21-9 21-10 with Moya Ryan winning 21-17 21-13 against Kate Frost.

In the Men’s Doubles was a terrific win for the Scott Burnside and his partner Conor Hickland winning 21-19 21-19 against Tony Stephenson/Tony Murphy

The Women’s Doubles went to form with Sinead Chambers/Jennie King taking the title against the young pairing of Caroline Black/Rachael Darragh 21-11 21-16

Matthew Lightbody/Paul Reynolds won the Boys Doubles against Kyle Magee/Chin Nam Soong 21-8 21-15 with Kate Frost/Kerri Scott taking the Girls Doubles title 21-9 21-12 against Moya Ryan/Rachael Woods.

In the U15 Mixed Doubles Matthew Lightbody/Moya Ryan took the gold medal beating Kyle Magee/Chin Nam Soong 21-8 21-15.

The senior team look forward to the European Mixed Team championships in Russia with their eyes firmly set on the Quarter final target a first for Irish Badminton team. The decisive match will be against France next Wednesday.

Winners

Ms

1 Scott Evans(1)

2 Tony Stephenson(2)

¾ Martin Io Wai Lau

¾ Joshua Magee(5/8)

WS

1 Chloe Magee(1)

2 Sinead Chambers (2)

¾ Jennie King

¾ Alannah Stephenson

MD

1 Scott Burnside(3/4) Conor Hickland

2 Tony Murphy (1) Tony Stephenson]

¾ Ian Macbeth/Sam Magee

¾ Daniel Magee(2)/Niall Tierney

WD

1 Sinead Chambers (1)/Jennie King

2 Caroline Black/Rachael Darragh

¾ Keady Smith/Alannah Stephenson

¾ Caroline O’Sullivan (2)/Grace Webster

XD

1 Sam Magee (1)/Chloe Magee

2 Tony Murphy/Jennie King

¾ Ciaran Chambers(3/4)/Sinead Chambers

¾ Stuart Lightbody(2)/Caroline Black

Evans is in confident form after winning the men’s singles title at the Cyprus International in Nicosia last week.

He has a tough match against Leinster champion Owen Marron in his opening match on Saturday and if it goes according to the seedings, will face World junior No9 Jonathan Dolan from Sligo in the semi-finals and Tony Stephenson in the final.

Fellow Olympian Chloe Magee is top seed in the women’s singles and seeded to play Jenny King in the semi-finals and young pretender Sinead Chambers in the final for her seventh national title.

With brother Sam, she also hopes to win a sixth mixed doubles titles. Last December, the Magees made it a significant doubles at the Turkish Open with Chloe winning the women’s singles and pairing up with Sam to take the doubles

Top seeds for the men’s doubles are Tony Murphy and Tony Stephenson, who are likely to face Dan Magee and Niall Tierney in the final. Sinead Chambers pairs up with Jennie King in the women’s doubles.

Mens Singles: Irish number one Scott Evans has looked in great form as he has made his way to the final in Cyprus. Scott is yet to drop a set on his way to the final beating opposition from Cyprus, England, Ukraine and lastly Germany’s Philip Discher who he defeated in the semi-final 21-8 21-5 in only 17 minutes of play. In the Final he will meet world number 73 Andrew Smith of England. Smith has looked equally impressive on his way to the final and he too is yet to drop a set. The final’s will start at 10 am in Cyprus.

25th Li-Ning Winter Sun Cyprus International
Round 32
Scott Evans (IRE) (1) vs Andreas Fragkou (CYP) Won 21-6 21-11
Round 16
Scott Evans (IRE) vs Sam Parsons (ENG) Won 21-11 21-15
Quarter Final
Scott Evans (IRE) vs Leonov Kyrylo (UKR)[4] Won 21-16 21-8
Semi Final
Scott Evans (IRE) vs Philip Discher (GER) Won 21-8 21-5
Final
Scott Evans (IRE) vs Andrew Smith [2] (ENG)

The appointment follows a decision by Badminton Ireland to strengthen its high performance  team after  the London Olympics where, for a second, time, two Irish players had qualified.

Reidy, originally from Adare, Co Limerick, played for the USA in the men’s doubles at the 1992 Olympic Games. He then  moved to Swede where he player pro badminton for two years before beginning a distinguished career as a coach, most recently working at the Swedish National Badminton Centre.

Reidy has already taken the Irish squad for one session at the National Training Centre in Marino.

Current performance manager Michael Watt from Belfast moves to the position of Programmes Manager, taking care of administration and paperwork.

Dublin-based Dan Magee continues as national coach, answering to Reidy and managing the high performance centre daily at the Marino Institute of Education.

Along with  Badminton Ireland CEO Richard Vaughan, the trio will make up the Badminton Ireland HP Committee.

For further information,  an interview with Tom, or a visit to the National Performance Centre in Marino, Dublin, please contact Richard Vaughan 0860288555 or rvaughan@badmintonireland.com

TOM REIDY – Background article:

Tom hails from Adare, the Co. Limerick town that also produced Pat Marron and a number of other top ranked players in the 1970s, thanks to the hard work of Brother Dwane, a local Christian brother and an inspired coach both of football and badminton.

By the age of 14, Reidy was reckoned the best U-18 player in Munster and although equally good at football, opted to concentrate on his badminton. Ireland in the ’80s was not the place for a young lad wanting to make his way in the Badminton world and when he left school, Reidy went to England with the aim of winning a European Junior title. He got close, reaching the last 16.

Next stop was the USA. “There was no work here in the 1980s. I went to the USA not for my sport but to get a job and a future. I found myself playing badminton over there and I was lucky – the association funded my degree, so I would study and play part time.

“When I hear the kids telling me they can’t train because they’re studying for the leaving Cert that’s what I tell them. I studied for my degree and qualified for the Olympics.”

Reidy was soon established as one of the top players in the USA and was something of a doubles specialist. For the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where badminton was part of the programme for the first time, he teamed up with Benny Lee on the US team.

They swept aside a Portuguese pair in the opening round and then went out to a pair from Indonesia. “Then in 1994, I got the chance to play in Sweden in a professional league. Sweden was producing lots of good players then and it was the place to go to. I played as a pro for two years, then met my wife and decided to stay.”

At that time, he wasn’t planning to start coaching. “I kind of fell into coaching really. The English player Steven Butler was appointed as head coach in the USA and he asked me to join him. I was his assistant for a year before coming back to Sweden where I was involved in club coaching with Göteborgs BK and also with the national squad, including the U-17 and U-19 players.”

A stint at the Swedish national badminton centre in Malmo followed. During this time, Irish squad players, including Chloe Magee and, later, her brother Sam, trained with Reidy.

“Chloe came to me when she was only 17 in 2006 and we had two brilliant years when she qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.” There was also success for Sam, who teamed up with French player Sylvain Grosjean to win a European junior doubles title in 2009.

Reidy is thrilled to be involved with the new Irish set-up.

“I think the set-up here is very good and will help both players and coaches get what they need to improve.  I’m seeing lots of talented players – the challenge for them is to keep going.”

Top priority is a long-term plan. “I didn’t do a lot of planning in my career, but it is vital.  Too many promising players think they’ll give it a year or two. That’s not how it works -it can take seven or eight years of hard training before you get anywhere. It takes commitment. You must work hard, be patient, remember your goals – and have fun!”

It was an emotional win for Evans, a double Olympian, who made the final in 2008 and has reached six other European circuit finals without ever taking a win.

“I remember saying to my best friend Rob when I was 12 or 13 that if I was going to win only one tournament in my career, I’d want it to be the Irish Open,” said Evans after his straight sets win over the young French qualifier Lucas Corvee.

Although Evans was in the tougher side of the draw, he didn’t drop a set in the tournament, beating Corvee 21-19, 21-18 in the final.

Corvee had done brilliantly to make the final and right until the end, refused to give up, saving three match points before Evans finally closed out the match.

In the women’s final, Chloe Magee, who had won the mixed doubles with Karen Bing in 2007, was making her first appearance in a singles final.

After a long and exhausting season, including the London Olympics, the Donegal woman was foced to dig very deep indeed to beat the Spainiard Beatriz Corrales of Spain in the semi-finals.

In the final against 18-year-old Line Kjaersfeldt from Denmark, Magee struggled, trailing 10-18 in the opening game, but then underlined her fighting spirit when she pulled the score back to 20-20. She had a set point at 21-10, but failed to convert it. Kjaersfeldt then won the next two points to take the set 23-21.

Magee played with more drive in the second set, winning 21-18, but her rival always had the edge in the tie-breaker, winning 21-18 and taking her first singles title at this level.

Dutch players won all three doubles titles. In the men’s doubles, Jacco Arends and Jelle Maas of the Netherlands outsmarted Johannes Schoettler and Josche Zurwonne of Germany to win 21-14, 21-19.

That came after top seeds Samantha Barning and Eefje Muskens had a comfortable 21-12, 21-8 win over French pair Audrey Fontaine and Emilie Lefel in the women’s decider.

It was an especially good day for Barning who then paired up with Jorrit de Ruiter to win the mixed doubles in the final match of the day. They went toe-to-toe with their training partners Jacco Arends and Ilse Vaessen edging it at 22-20, 21-17 in a closely-fought match.

Results

Badminton

Carlton Irish Open, Baldoyle

Singles: Men – semi-finals: Scott Evans (Ire) (1) bt Lucas Claerbout

(Fra) 21-17, 21-18; Lucas Corvee (Fra) (Q) bt Sebastien Schoettler

(Ger) (Q) 18-21, 21-15, 21-16. Final: Evans bt Corvee 21-19, 21-18.

Women – semi-finals: Chloe Magee (Ire) (1) bt Beatriz Coralles (ESP)

(50) 21-18, 21-23, 21-12; Line Kjaersfeldt (Den) (6) bt Olga Konan

(Ger) 22-20, 21-19. Final: Kjaersfeldt bt Magee 23-21, 18-21, 21-18.

Doubles: Men – semi-finals: Johannes Schoettler/Josche Zurwonne (Ger)

(5) bt Christopher Coles/Matthew Nottingham (Eng) (4) 21-19, 21-17; Jacco Arends/Jelle Maas (Ned) (2) bt Robert Blair (Sco)/Bin Shen Tan

(Mal) 21-18, 21-19. Final: Arends/Maas bt Schoetler/Zurwone 21-14, 21-19.

Women:  Samantha Barning/Eefje Muskens (Ned) (1) bt Sophie Brown/ Helena Lewczynska (Eng) 21-14, 21-11; Audrey Fontaine/Emilie Lefel

(Fra) (2) bt Jessica Fletcher/Alyssa Lim (Eng) 21-14, 21-15. Final:

Barning/Muskens bt Fontaine/Lefel 21-12, 21-8.

Mixed: Jorrit de Ruiter/Samantha Barning (Ned) (1) bt Jelle Maas/Iris Tabeling (Ned) (4) 21-14, 26-24; Jacco Arends/Ilse Vaessen (Ned) (3) bt Max Schwenger/Carla Nelte (Ger) (5) 21-16, 18-21, 21-17. Final: de Ruiter/Barning bt Arends/Vaessen 22-20. 21-17.

Scott Evans and Chloe Magee both comfortably won their opening round matches at the Carlton Irish Badminton Open in Baldoyle this morning.

Evand beat Maxime Michel 21-14, 21-11 in his opening round match. He players qualifier Daniel Groom of England later this afternoon (17.30) for a place in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.

Magee was equally untroubled in her opening round match with qualifier Jelske Snoeck of Belgium, winning 21-13, 21-8.

In other matches, Tony Stephenson lost to Sweden’s Mikael Westerback 15-21, 14-21. Two seeded players are out of the men’s singles. No 5 seed David Obernosterer narrowly lost to qualifier Rhys Walker of England 21-23, 19-21, while the No 4 seed Luka Wraber also Denmark went out to qualifier Patrick Kaeminitz of Germany.

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The application plugs in to BadmintonIrelandTV and comes just in time for live streaming of the Irish Open, starting on December 6.

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Scott Evans, top seed for the men’s singles, will play  Maxime Michele of France in his opening match and then either Flemming Quach of Denmark, or a qualifier who could turn out to be Ireland’s Tony Stephenson.

Should Evans progress,  he could face Marcel Router of Germany  in the quarter finals and Toby Plenty of England in the semi-finals. Also in the top end of the draw is the dangerous Malaysian player Kuan Beng Hong,  whom Evans will play in the opening round of the Welsh Open on Friday.

Lukas Schmidt of Germany,  the No 2 seed,  could possibly face Irish player Josh Magee in his opening match, should Magee emerge from the qualifying tournament.

Chloe Magee , the top women’s seed,  could play qualifiers in both her first two matches before facing Dutch player Patty Stolzenbach in the quarter-finals and Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia in the semis.  Seeded at No2 is Lianne Tan from Belgium, with Ireland’s Sinead Chambers also in the bottom half of the draw.

Dutch players are expected to dominate the men’s doubles with Jorrit de Ruiter and Dave Khodabux seeded at No 1 and Jacco Arends and Jelle Maas at No 2.   De Ruiter and Khodabus are scheduled to play new-look Irish pair Jonathan Dolan and Sam Magee  in their round 2 match, although the Irish pair will first have to dispose of Daniel Grassmueck and Roman Zimwald of Austria.

In the bottom half of the draw, Arends and Maas could face a double Irish challenge -  Scott Burnside and Conor Hickland in their opening match,  followed by Tony Murphy and Tony Stephenson  in round 2.

A Dutch-French final is expected in the women’s doubles with Samantha Barning and Eefje Muskens of the Netherlands the top seeds and French pair Audrey Fontaine and Emilie Lefel at No 2.

Irish pair Sinead Chambers and Jennie King are in the top half of the draw and could face Barning and Muskens in the quarter finals. They have a bye in the first round and then play Anna Rankin and Madeleine Stapleton of New Zealand in round 2.

For the mixed doubles, Chloe and Sam Magge are seeded at No 2 behind the strong Dutch pairing of Jorrit de Ruiter and Samantha Barning.  

The Magees play Floris Oleffe and Steffi Annys of Belgium in their opening match and then possibly their brother Josh and cousin Rachael Darragh in round 2. Danger pair in the bottom half of the draw are Dutch players Jacco Arends and Ilse Vaessen.

 QUALIFIERS

With eight players progressing from the qualifying tournament, draw, Tony Stephenson, seeded No 1,  has a good chance of making the main draw at the Carlton Irish Badminton Open in Baldoyle from December 6.

Other Irish players among the eight groups of eight include Nigel Boyne, Scott Burnside, Io Wai Lau, Tony Murphy, Stuart Lightbody, Josh Magee, Jonathan Dolan, David Walsh and Liam O’Leary, Dolan,  currently No 10 junior in the world, has a tough draw and is likely to face France’s Lucas Corvee  before the deciding match in his group. Magee has a more comfortable draw and should he survive his first two matches,  could face face Germany’s Richard Domke for a place in the main tournament.

O’Leary is in a group that includes  No 8 seed Daniel Massersi from Italy. Included in Scott Burnside’s group are Daniel Font from Wales and fellow Irish player Io Wai Lau.

Australian player Tara Pilven is the top seed for the women’s qualifying tournament. Jennie King, Aisling Ryan, Rachael Darragh, Catherine Coyle, and Alannah Stephenson are the Irish players hoping to take one of eight places in the main tournament.

Top men’s seed is Malaysian player Chun Seang Tan, currently ranked No 34 in the world. Also entered is Malaysia’s former world No 19 Kuan Beng Hong. Leading the home entry is Irish No 1 Scott Evans.

In the women’s draw Germany’s Karin Schnaase tops the seedings, with Ireland’s Chloe Magee also tipped to do well.

A strong entry in the men’s doubles includes Jacco Arends and Jelle Maas from the Netherlands and world silver medal Robert Blair from Scotland who will play with Tan Ben Shen from Malaysia.

An exciting local pairing sees former European junior doubles champion Sam Magee joining forces with world junior No 10 Johny Dolan from Sligo, who reached the men’s singles quarter-finals at the recent World Championships in China.

French pair Audrey Fontaine and Emilie Lefel lead the entry for the women’s doubles, while in mixed doubles, Sam Magee and Chloe Magee are perhaps the best chance of a home victory.

At the China Open earlier today, the Magee’s put up a great battle against Ki Jung Kim and So Young Kim of Korea in the opening round of the mixed doubles. They narrowly lost the opening set 21-23, took the second 21-27, but faded to lose the third 9-21. It was still an encouraging show from the Magee’s, who  only paired up at the start of the season. 

Chloe Magee was also playing in the women’s singles qualifier where she went out to Den Xuan of China 18-21, 13-21.

Li Nig China Open, Shanghai - Irish results

Women’s singles qualifier – Rd 1: C Magee lost to Den Xuan (China) 18-21, 13-21.

Mixed doubles – Rd 1: S Magee/C Magee lost to KJ Kim/SY Kim (Kor) 21-23, 21-17, 9-21.

It was effectively a shoot-out for a place in the last 16 at Wembley Arena but Pi recovered to win 16-21 21-18 21-14.

Magee, the world number 44 from Raphoe in County Donegal, recovered from a four-point deficit early on to take the first game.

Magee edged into a 9-7 lead early in the third and continued to defend well as Pi tried to take the attack to her.

But Pi levelled and began to edge away after the mid-game interval, eventually completing victory in 60 minutes.

Pi, the 16th seed and quarter-finalist four years ago, now moves through to the knockout stage as the winner of Group I.

The Chinese superstar, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, won 21-8, 21-14  in their first-round match at Wembley Arena.

The victory sees Lin go straight through to the last-16 knockout phase at London 2012 as the pair were the only players in Group P.

Evans had described the match as the biggest of his life and made a confident start as the crowd, with no Britons to cheer all day, got behind him.

The world number 76 hit a couple of good winners in the opening exchanges but Lin, despite playing well within himself, soon asserted his authority.

The  draw could not have been tougher for  Evans, world ranked No  76 . Lin, although seeded second to Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, for the tournament is  widely regarded by as the greatest player of all time.  Evans has played  Li many times,  most notably in the second round of last year’s World Championships, where he put up a good fight.

Chloe Magee, world No 44,  has had a much kinder draw in a group of three. She will  play 33-year-old Pi Hongyan of France, a quarter- finalist at Beijing in 2008, now world ranked 25.

The pair met in the quarter finals of the Yonex Irish Open last December  with Pi only winning in three sets. The other player in the group is Egypt’s Hadia Hosny, world ranked 113. Magee will have the advantage of analysing the Egyptian opponent who has been preparing for the Games in Dublin at the National training centre.

Only the winners of the 16 groups in the singles competitions, some with two players and some with three,  will go through to the knockout stages of the competition, Play starts on Saturday, with the playing schedule to be announced later this week.

From July 9,  players from several developing badminton nations will train with Irish Olympian Chloe Magee and eight high performance players  at the Marino Institute of Education in Dublin.

Former Korean and British national coach Lee Jae Bok and Irish national coach Dan Magee will supervise.

On the 21st July, the Irish Olympians head  to  the Olympic Council of Ireland’s preparation camp in London, while five South African Olympians will train with the  Ulster provincial squad in Lisburn at a second camp.

In total, some fourteen badminton Olympians from eight nations will train in Ireland in the build-up to the London Games.

The Irish player, ranked 44 in the world, was 26 on the list from 46 players qualified in the ladies singles.

Magee was not quite as successful in the mixed doubles though with brother Sam Magee. Despite some great results this season the pair, ranked 40 in the world, have been piped down to third reserve on the Olympic list in spot 19 on the final list.

Scott Evans in in the men’s singles, the world number 67 is in position 37 on the final Olympic list leaving him at first reserve for the Games.

Badminton Ireland national coach Daniel Magee commented: “It is great we have three players in contention for Olympic selection. Chloe and Sam have done great in mixed this year but it’s tough qualifying with just 16 pairs.

“Chloe had a great first half of the year and had really done enough in terms of qualification by the Irish Open in December. Scott’s solid performances of late has ensured he has a great chance of selection on the second list in a few week’s time.”

Men’s Singles: In the Men’s singles Scott Evan’s world number 65 is hot favourite to retain his National title on his quest for a 7th consecutive win at this event. Scott Burnside is seeded number two for this event and will lead the charge as the draw compete to challenge Evan’s Dominance. Tony Stephenson and Joshua Magee make up the rest of the seeding’s and will be the big contenders for the semi-final spots. Niall Tierney is another name to watch out for having won this year’s Ulster Open, with only four seeds Niall is not ranked in the draw so there is potential for an exciting quarter final match up for him with Scott Burnside.

In the Mixed Doubles world number 40 Sam and Chloe Magee are putting their Olympic campaign on hold as they try to take a 5th consecutive national title. The main contenders will be number 2 seeds Daniel Magee and Fiona Glennon and 3/4 seeds another brother and sister combination of Ciaran and Sinead Chambers. Stuart Lightbody and Caroline Black make up the other 3/4 spot and will hope to take a semi-final spot against one seeds Sam and Chloe. In the Bottom side of the draw Magee and Glennon and Sinead and Ciaran Chambers are favourite to meet to make up the other semi-final.

The nationals has always been one of the most exciting dates on the Irish calendar and with a strong field including all Olympic hopefuls at home to compete this weekend it will provide a great spectacle for any badminton spectators in attendance. With the cold snap here this event should provide some hot competition as the players go for the coveted prize of being crowned National Champion.

The OCI would like to wish all the Athletes the best of luck at these Championships.

Irish number one Scott Evans in the men’s singles and Irish number one doubles player Sam Magee in the Men’s doubles with his partner Mikkel Eljborn. Unfortunately for the Irish representatives the semis proved to be one step to far, however on the quest for Olympic qualification the points earned may prove invaluable.

Mens Singles:  First up for Scott Evans Irelands number one men’s Singles player was Israel’s number one Men’s singles player Milsha Zilberman. Scott took control of the match against the World no 75 from Israel winning with a comprehensive 2 set victory 21-15 21-19. Next up for Scott was Sylvain Ternon of france. Scott continued his good form and once again saw out the game with two straight sets taking 29 minutes to wrap up a 21-13 21-12 victory. In the quarter final Scott faced his advisory of last week Raul Must of Estonia.

Scott played well taking the opening set 21-17, the Estonian number one fought back and took the second set 21-13. In the final set with some really amazing long rallies due to the slow conditions Must kept ahead and took the final set 21-16.

Women Singles: First tournament of the New Year for Chloe Magee. Chloe faced a difficult opponent in Karin Schnaase of Germany. Chloe started well in this match leading the first set at 11. From this interval Schnaase found her form and came back to take the opening set 21-17. Chloe started the second set badly and despite a brief come back she was unable to stop Schnaase who went on to take the second set and match with a 21-12 scoreline.

Mixed Doubles: In the mixed Doubles Chloe partnered up with her brother Sam stepped on court to renew battle against Kim Astrup Sorensen & Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. These pairs have met on a number of occasions this season and each time it has been a close encounter. This match up followed the script with an exciting 3 set 51 minute match. Unfortunately on this occasion it would go in favour of the Danish partnership with a thrilling 21-19 final set scoreline.

By reaching the quarter-finals of the Irish Open in Lisburn at the weekend Ulster and Ireland’s number one has virtually secured a second Olympics appearance next summer and she’ll have plenty of time to look forward to it unlike last time. This is based on her current ranking and having played in the required number of tournaments.

In 2008 confirmation Chloe had made the Irish team came only a few weeks before the Games began.

“I just remember that for Beijing I wasn’t expected to qualify so first of all I couldn’t believe it when I made it. I hadn’t been playing badminton full time for that long before then so it was a huge shock to me to get there and then everything just passed me by because I didn’t really know what was happening until I got to the Games and then it was ‘holy cow, I’m actually at the Olympics and that was quite surreal.”

In her first round match she made her Olympics debut against Estonian Kati Tolmoff winning in three close sets.

“That was another thing that went by very quickly. I knew going on to court I’d done everything I could to be ready and I just wanted to go out there and give it everything I could and it was pretty hard because I’d never played in an arena that big before so it was tough dealing with that but I think that experience will help me out this time because I’m used to playing in big events.”

Her experience in Beijing persuaded Chloe that she was good enough to play with the very best in the world and she dedicated herself to her sport.

“Back then I’d only been playing badminton for a year and a half full time and when I got to the Olympics that’s when I knew that’s where I wanted to be, competing with the best players in the world and that I wanted to get back there and it’s what gave me the kick to start playing properly and giving it everything and for the last four years I’ve given my life to the sport and this year is the first year I can say that my results have really looked up. It’s been a long hard road with training and there’s been a lot of doubts but this year has been good.”

She added, “This time I wanted it more, I’ve been training better and preparing for it for four years and you know when you want something so badly you’ll do whatever it takes.”

And dedication is what Chloe has needed. Being part of a small Irish team with brother Sam and Scott Evans means a lot of travelling and this year Chloe has been to Russia, Bulgaria, Spain, Norway and Sweden to name a few countries all in search for those vital qualifying points.

“Everybody that you talk to says ‘what a great life you have that you are going from this part of the world to that’ but it’s not like that at all. You’re going from one hotel to another hotel and from one tournament to another.

You’re not getting to see all the sights so it is hard and it is lonely and in an individual sport like badminton everyone is there for themselves, there’s no such thing as best friends, you’re there to compete and everyone is the same. That means when you get your wins you have to really savour the moment because they pass so quick.”

There’s no doubt what her best result of the year was. It came in the first round of the World Championships, which were held at the Olympic venue of Wembley Arena.

Chloe defeated Indonesian number one Adrianti Firdasari 13-21, 24-22, 21-13, another result that confirmed the girl from Raphoe, Co Donegal was moving in the right direction.

“Everybody wants to do well at the world championships and I got a really tough draw with the top Indonesian girl in the first round. I prepared well by watching videos of her and we got the tactics right and I played so well, something came together on the day and it was my best win of the year. I was delighted to compete at that level.”

Chloe is currently ranked 46th in the world, her highest ever position, and she credits that to making small changes in her lifestyle.

“I’ve changed so much in my game, even in the last two years. My diet is better, and my fitness and I can focus longer in training, I’m mentally better and more mature as a player. There have been a lot factors, my badminton has always been good but it’s the little things that have helped me become a better player and able to take my game to a higher level.”

Based in Dublin it’s a family affair as brother Dan coaches Chloe and she has also formed an excellent mixed doubles partnership with her younger brother Sam.

Currently they are just outside of the automatic placing for London with four months still to go to try and move up one place.

“It was just a nice distraction for a long time, it was nice to relax and play doubles but then we started to get some really good results, especially this year and we’re up to 34th in the world so whenever you get that high it’s not for fun anymore, its more serious than that.

Now I’m putting in a lot of training with Sam for the doubles and it’s tough because most players play either singles or doubles but I really enjoy it and I have the fitness to do it.”

The Olympic Council of Ireland have recognised the additional commitment and potential and have recently financially supported Chloe and Sam’s  final push to qualify as a mixed doubles pair.

At the ripe old age of 23, Chloe is playing the best badminton of her life and there is still plenty to come.

“I’m still young in terms of badminton and I have a lot of years left and I want to be up there with the best, there’s no doubt about that and I just want to be the best that I can be but that’s going to take a while yet. Everyone says I have to be patient but that’s not within me, I just have to work hard and I know I can keep getting better and better.”

Nigel Ringland

Freelance Sports Correspondent and Broadcaster

Matches will also be available on the Badminton Europe TV stream for the Yonex court throughout the event for viewers worldwide.

This year’s Yonex Irish Open event is of added importance as all important Olympic qualifying points are up for grabs with Ireland’s Chloe Magee, Scott Evans and Sam Magee all looking to secure their Olympic places at the event.

The result is a great boost for their Olympic qualification and secures their position as first reserves for the Olympic Games. Earlier in the day Chloe lost in the final of the ladies singles after two hard fought sets.

Next up for Scott Evans will be next week’s Scottish Open event and in three week’s time all three Irish players will be targeting success at the Irish open event in Lisburn.

Badminton Ireland Chief Executive Richard Vaughan commented “ It is another great result for Chloe against England’s number. Another good result in Holland means the Irish Open event in Lisburn will be an even more interesting event for Chloe as it could be the tournament that clarifies Chloe’s place for the London 2012 Olympic Games, a great achievement with five months of qualifying still remaining.”

First up for Chloe on Friday morning was Spanish No2 and European Junior silver medallist Beatriz Corrales. A difficult first round tie was confirmed when the Spaniard won the first set 17-21. Chloe however took the match; upping a gear after the first set and demonstrating her improved tactical and physical ability taking the next two sets 21-9, and 21-14. A comfortable win in the end for Chloe.
The second round Friday evening was against Caroline Hoim, Estonian No1. However due to an injury picked up in the warm up the Estonian was forced to withdraw.
That left Chloe with a Quarter final match against Turkish No1 Neslihan Yigit on Saturday morning and despite a tremendous effort by Chloe she was defeated 20-22, 24-26 in two gruelling forty five minute sets.
The Turkish girl went on to defeat the second seed Griga from Ukraine in two straight sets in the semi-final and plays the Bulgarian No1 Zichiri in the final Sunday.

Badminton Ireland Chief Executive Richard Vaughan commented “Chloe has again played well and was just a few points short of defeating the Turkish girl who looks as if she will take the Bulgarian title. It is a start of a busy few weeks for Chloe with the Dutch Open next week and events in Germany, Norway and Ireland coming up, so it is a very promising sign of better things to come Chloe has also been working very closely with the Irish Institute of Sport in recent months and her fitness test results clearly indicate physical improvements which are only going to benefit her on court game.”

Seventh seed Chloe Magee from Ireland started the day off for Ireland with a fine win against M Pozdeeva (Russia) taking just 20 minutes and a score line of 21-11 21-9 to complete the game.
In the Mixed brother Sam and Chloe took on N Gennadiy/Y Kazarinova (Ukraine). The first set was nip and tuck with Sam and Chloe taking this one 25-23. In the 2nd set Sam & Chloe settled and won the set and the game 21-15.
In the second round Friday afternoon Chloe continued her winning streak by beating E Kosetskaya (Russia) 21- 10 21-10 giving Chloe a place in the quarter finals of this event.

In the quarter finals of the singles Saturday Chloe went down narrowly to Ukraine number one and the tournament third seed Larissa Griga losing 21-15 11-21 21-17.
In the mixed doubles quarter final the Irish pair of Sam and Chloe Magee lost to Singapore/Indonesian pair of Chrisnanta and Neo 7-21 7-21.

Badminton Ireland CEO Richard Vaughan commented “It is great to see the Irish players in the latter stages of yet another strong International Olympic qualification event. Chloe was very close to winning and I am sure Larissa would have been a difficult match in her home event. The mixed doubles result would be disappointing for the pair, but yet again you never know what you will get with the Singapore players as they are all migrating over from Indonesia, so it was a tough match. Again like the World Championship performances in London it is great to see Irish players involved in the latter stages of these events.”

To follow the latest the event, follow the Badminton Ireland website www.badmintonireland.com.

Note: Two players qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and in addition to the two singles places Badminton Ireland are also targeting a mixed doubles pair that will not be an easy task as there are only 16 places and these will contain Continental representation.

Sam, brother Dan and sister Chloe all hail from the small ”one horse” town of Raphoe. Chloe, who plays singles and mixed doubles with Sam explained, the family secret.

“Dad got us into the game when I was maybe four of five,” she said. “We just played at our local club and all things spiralled from there.”

Dan, 26, an ex-international who now coaches Chloe, said: ”It was a small, one-court hall in a church building. Because of the badminton we all grew hungry for more.

“Then we moved further afield and it’s been going well since then.

“Raphoe is a really small town – a one-horse town with not many people in it but at one time Sam, Chloe and myself were all playing for the Irish team.”

Chloe will team up with Sam on Tuesday to play French duo Baptiste Careme and Laura Choinet.

Sam, 21, said: “We’ve won two tournaments this year, in Romania and Lithuania. We won one before that but this year we’ve been a bit more consistent and we’re getting a litlle more experienced.”

The Magee’s exploits have done a great deal to lift the profile of the sport in Ireland.

Dan said: “When I played for Ireland the publicity was not so big but now with Chloe and Sam winning things in Europe and Chloe winning a singles title in Lithuania badminton is getting more recognition.

“And of course we’ve got our number one man Scott Evans who was in a few of the European finals as well.” Evans opens his campaign on Tuesday against Austria’s Michael Lahnsteiner.

Meanwhile, back in Raphoe, remarkably, there’s a fourth Magee shaping up in the form of young brother Josh, aged 16.

Sister Chloe, world-ranked 38, said: “He doesn’t play too much internationally at the moment but I am sure he will in the future.”

Sam said: “Maybe we’ve saved the best till last!”

To view full results of the 2011 Yonex BWF World Badminton Championships, click here.

The 2011 World Championships in London,the Olympic Test Event for London 2012, means not only Olympic qualifying points for the players but also a unique Olympic feeling before the 2012 Olympic Badminton event.

Following the event the Irish team will travel down to St Marys Twickenham and Wimbledon Raquets Club to view facilities and check out the venue proposed for next year’s pre 2012 Games training base.

A reminder of the World Champinship draw:

Chloe Magee starts the Irish players off at the World Championships on Monday 8th August at 10am playing against A Firdasari (Ina).  Her second round would be against S Nehwal (Ind) on Wednesday 10th. Sam Magee & Tony Stephenson then play their Men’s Doubles at 6pm on Monday 8th against V Konov/D Zavadsky (Ukr) with a second round awaiting versus B Chai/Z Guo (China) for Wednesday 10th. Scott Evans faces M Lahnsteiner (Aus) at 11.40am on Tues 9th August with a possible second round tie against Lin Dan (China) on Wednesday 10th. Sam/Chloe Magee face B Careme/L Choinet (France) on Tuesday 9th at 1pm with a possible second round tie on Wednesday 10th.
 

The Irish players have has mixed luck in the draw; Chloe Magee starts the Irish players off at the World Championships on Monday 8^th August at 10am playing against A Firdasari (Ina).  Her second round would be against S Nehwal (Ind) on Wednesday 10^th. Sam Magee & Tony Stephenson then play their Men’s Doubles at 6pm on Monday 8^th against V Konov/D Zavadsky (Ukr) with a second round awaiting versus B Chai/Z Guo (China) for Wednesday 10^th. Scott Evans faces M Lahnsteiner (Aus) at 11.40am on Tues 9^th August with a possible second round tie against Lin Dan (China) on Wednesday 10^th. Sam/Chloe Magee face B Careme/L Choinet (France) on Tuesday 9^th at 1pm with a possible second round tie on Wednesday 10^th.

With the event so close to home I hope many of you will be able to get over to London and show your support for our players. For those that cannot make London then stay up to date with the results as they happen on www.badmintonireland.com.