The Isle of Wight Badminton Team will be travelling to Guernsey hoping to take their 1st podium place since the games were held on the Isle of Wight 12 years ago.
Badminton has been played at the Island games ever since the Isle of Man Island Games of 1985 with a break in 2007.
In the 18 badminton tournaments held at the Island Games, the Isle of Wight have taken 9 medals: 2 golds, 1 silver and 6 bronzes.
Our team were successful in 1985, taking a bronze medal in the 1st event in the team competition.
The Isle of Wight’s next medal came in 1989, when we took bronze in the Men’s singles in the Faroe Islands.
The last time the games were held in Guernsey in 1987, we gained another bronze in the women’s singles.
We came away with a 2 medal haul at Aland in 1991, with silver in the mixed doubles and bronze in the men’s doubles.
The Isle of Wight struck gold on home soil in 1993 when Hutchins and Hutchins won the women’s doubles.
The most successful outing for our badminton side came again with home advantage in 2011 with Anna Showan taking gold in the women’s singles with a 2-set victory and also bronze in the mixed doubles (partnered with I Walder).
Sadly, our badminton team have failed to match their success in the 2011 Isle of Wight Island games, failing to gain a podium place in the 4 subsequent games.
The most successful island in Island Games history are hosts Guernsey with 22 medals, including 10 golds.
In this year’s team tournament, the Isle of Wight has been placed in a 5-team group together with Isle of Man, Bermuda, Froya and the Falkland Islands.
The Badminton competition starts on Sunday 9th July with the finals on Friday 14th July. All games will be played at the Badminton Halls in The Rohais.
There are 6 medals up for grabs: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles as well as a team competition.
Isle of Wight Badminton team 2023 Guernsey Island Games:
Manager: Richard Gray
Coach: Yoann Belon
Team (Mens): Chris Massey, Matthew Honnor, Jacob Honnor, David Anderson, James Phillips
Team (Ladies): Isabelle Honnor, Lucy Baggott, Jess Gilbert, Emily Clow, Emily Boynton
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Wish you all the luck “May the shuttlecocks be with you”