2014-15 CIRCUIT
INFORMATION
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List of contents
Badminton England Format Standardisation
3
Juniors - U13, U15 & U17 Circuit
3
Junior Gold & Gold Star
3
Gold Entry & Draw
Badminton England Silver Tournaments
Badminton England Bronze Tournaments
Badminton England U11 Age Group Tournaments
Junior Medals
Even Age Group Circuit
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5
5
Senior Silver & Bronze Circuit
6
Masters Circuit
6
Para-badminton circuit
6
Seeding Criteria
6
Financial Arrangements
7
Shuttles
7
Junior Circuit
7
Even Age Group Circuit
7
Senior Circuit
7
Masters Circuit
7
Para-badminton
7
Junior Even Age Group Circuit / Under 19’s
Junior Circuit
Refunds
4
5
Senior Gold Circuit
Invoices
4
5
U19 Gold & Bronze Circuit
Medals
4
Para-badminton Circuit
8
8
8
8
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Junior & Even Age Group Circuit
8
8
Tournament Planner
9
Seniors / Masters / U19’s
9
Juniors
9
Player Validation Tool
9
Online Entry
9
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Badminton England FORMAT STANDARDISATION
Juniors - U13, U15 & U17 Circuit
The preliminary round of the singles and level doubles in all circuit tournaments will be played in groups. The group size
will depend on the size of entry.
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Gold events, the average size group will be three / Gold Star will be 4
Silver events the average size should be four
Bronze events the minimum group size will be four
Under 11 AGT’s the average group size should be 4 (or as large as is practical)
Mixed doubles will normally be knock-out format
Note: If either a bronze or Silver tournament, scheduled for the same day at the same venue, has less than 8 entries in
their singles event, the Tournament Referee may at their discretion combine the Silver and Bronze entries in some or all
disciplines.
Except where Silver and Bronze Events are combined, the winner only from each group qualifies for the knock-out
rounds.
Junior Gold & Gold Star - Singles will be split into two grades, Gold Star and Gold
Players must enter Gold Singles in the normal way, and once the entry has closed the singles event will be split into
two, Gold Star and Gold Singles. The number of players selected in the Gold Star singles will be determined by the
entry size as listed below:
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32+ players:
25-31 players:
16 players will be selected
12 players will be selected
17-24 players:
8 players will be selected
The selection for the Gold Star Singles will be made by Badminton England
The remaining players will be considered for the Gold Singles and if selection is required it will be made by accepting
the highest graded players first followed by their individual ranking. Wild cards will be permitted at the tournament
committee’s discretion. Where the event is a two day event the semi-finals and finals of both the Gold Star and Gold
Singles will normally take place on the Sunday. (NB: There will be no semi-finals in the Gold Star singles if only eight
players are accepted.)
There may be problems where the closing date of an event occurs before the previous Gold Tournament has
finished, where this is the case the events department will reserve the right to use their wild cards to allow these
players entry into the first available Gold Star Event.
An ordered list of reserves will be published for Gold Singles, and players from this list will substitute for players who
withdraw from this event once the draw has been made. There will be no reserve list for Gold Star Singles.
 Average anticipated entry will be 80 singles players.
 Games will be best of 3 to 21 rally points, extended to 30 if necessary.
 All disciplines will be seeded by the Seeding Committee
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Gold Entry & Draw
Badminton England will collate the lists for all events and will:
 Consult with the Performance Dept if necessary to identify any non English players who are good enough to be
accepted into the Gold Star Tournament
 Any nominated wild cards
 Badminton England will liaise with the Secretary & Referee to decide how many players they can accept in each
event
 Badminton England will produce a list of seeds using the ranking lists (“Non Resident players” will be
recommended for seeding by the Performance Dept.)
 Complete the draw for the tournament
 Identify reserves for all disciplines except Gold Star.
The Scots, Welsh, Irish and other non resident players will not appear on the ranking list and this could lead to a
problem in the Gold Singles. An English player is somebody whose name appears on the English Ranking List.
Badminton England Silver Tournaments
These events are part of the Badminton England Junior Circuit, run on its behalf by County BAs. Grade A-D at U17 &
Grade A-E at U15 are not permitted to enter these events. (average anticipated entry will be 80 singles players).
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Valid entries received from the highest graded players within their own age group will be given priority over all
other graded players (average anticipated entry will be 80 singles players).
Where the entry to an event is over-subscribed, entries will be restricted by the tournament’s seeding group
Games will be the best of 3 to 15 rally points, extended to 21 if necessary.
Most Silver tournaments will not play a mixed event.
All disciplines will be seeded by the Seeding Committee
Badminton England Bronze Tournaments
These events are part of the Badminton England Junior Circuit, run on our behalf by County BAs. Grade A-E at U17,
Grade A-F at U15 & Grade A-G at U13 are not permitted to enter these events.
 Where the entry to an event is over-subscribed, entries will be restricted by the tournament’s seeding group
 Valid entries received from the highest graded players within their own age group will be given priority over all
other graded players (average anticipated entry will be 80 singles players).
 Games will be 1 game to 21 rally points. This is extended to 30 points in the knock-out rounds only.
 Most Bronze tournaments will not play a mixed event.
 All disciplines will be seeded by the Seeding Committee
New Format at U13B - The first round of the singles events will be played with the majority of groups containing 4
players, groups of 3 are permitted if influenced by withdrawals or an unsuitable entry number. The second round will be
split into 2 knockouts with the top 2 finishing positions in the groups moving into the main draw and all remaining players
moving into a consolation knockout draw. The initial rounds of the level doubles will be played in groups with a minimum
size of 4. The initial round of the mixed doubles may be played in either a knockout or groups.
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Badminton England U11 Age Group Tournaments
All Under 11 AGT’s include singles and level doubles.
 The initial rounds of these events will be played in groups, the size of which being as large as the entry will
permit.
 Each match will be the best of 3 games to 11 rally points, extended to 15 if necessary.
 All disciplines will be seeded by the Seeding Committee
If the entry is lower than anticipated, the organising committee may adjust the scoring system to the one used in the
grade above.
Even Age Group Circuit
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Singles and doubles will be played in groups (minimim group size of 4) followed by knockout. If the singles is
split into A & B, this must be stated on the entry form and will be awarded bronze ranking points.
Matches can be either best of 3 to 15 / 3 to 21 or 1 game to 21 rally points.
Mixed to be played as a knockout.
Minimum group sizes of 4
Under 19 Gold & Bronze Circuit
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Gold events will be played as a knockout
Bronze event to be played over one day
sanction for Sunday dates will only be given to the Gold tournaments
First round to be played in groups, every player will have a minimum of 2 matches in each event entered.
Players may enter a maximum of two events.
Players graded A - C within a discipline may not enter that discipline (Bronze only).
Matches will be played as best of 3 games to 21 points (rally point scoring –extension if necessary).
There are no limits on size of entry.
Senior Gold Circuit
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Play will be a straight KO over two days using a minimum of four courts, with all finals taking place on the final
day.
The recommended size of entry will be MS 32, WS 24, MD 24, WD 16, MXD 24. It is possible to be flexible
within events depending on the overall total of entries for the tournament.
Matches will be played as best of 3 games to 21 points (rally point scoring –extension if necessary).
BYES AND WALKOVERS IN THE FIRST ROUND
The recommended schedule of play is:
Saturday
Singles
Doubles
Mixed Doubles
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3 rounds
3 rounds
3 rounds
Sunday Singles Semi Finals
Doubles Semi Finals
Mixed Semi Finals
Finals (on 2 courts)
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U17 Players (born on or after the 1 January XXXX) only qualify if they are graded ‘D’ in any discipline but
must enter at least one discipline of which they are grade ‘D’ or above.
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Senior Silver & Bronze Circuit
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Play in Silver tournaments will be a straight KO
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Bronze events to be played over one day (no sanction for Sunday dates)
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First round to be played in groups, every player will have a minimum of 2 matches in each event entered.
(bronze only)
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Players may enter a maximum of two events.
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Players graded A-C within a discipline may not enter that discipline (bronze)
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U17 Players (born on or after the 1st January XXXX) only qualify if they are graded ‘D’ in any discipline but
must enter at least one discipline of which they are grade ‘D’ or above. (silver)
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Matches will be played as best of 3 games to 21 points (rally point scoring –extension if necessary).
There are no limits on size of entry.
Masters Circuit
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Matches will be played as best of 3 games to 21 points (rally point scoring –extension if necessary).
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There are no limits on size of entry.
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A competitor may enter only one age group in each event (but may play in a different age group in different
events if otherwise eligible).
Para-Badminton Circuit
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Gold - will offer all classifications plus a BWF trained classifier and players must be members of Badminton
England.
Gold - players need to be eligible to play Para badminton according to the BWF Criteria as found on their
website. This requires players to undergo National Classification prior to the tournament (Friday evening &/or
Saturday morning). All players must consent and comply with this assessment process, which will be done in 3
stages and follows the same rules and guidelines as in BWF.
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Medical and Permission forms
Physical Examination
Observation of Play &/or the completion of Functional Badminton activities
Bronze - will offer a minimum of two classifications and players do not have to be classified in order to
compete.
Bronze - must incorporate two of the following classifications: Wheelchair (consisting of both WH1 and WH2);
Standing (consisting of both SL3, SL4 and SU5); Short Stature (SS6) and LD.
Depending on entry numbers, events may be combined as per the Guide to running Para-Badminton events.
Seeding Criteria
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All Junior Gold events will be seeded by the C&E department
Junior Silver circuit, Even Age Group circuit, U19 circuit, Senior circuit & Masters circuit will be seeded, firstly, using
the player grading list followed by the rankings lists at the closing dates. (known form of foreign players will be used).
The Committee reserves the right to use their discretion in selection and seeding, promote players to the main draw, to
limit entries in any particular event, or alter or modify the programme in any way it sees fit, if it is in the interest of the
tournament or where standard of competitors is not known.
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FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
Badminton England charges a £50 sanction fee. Use of Tournament Planner is compulsory to include membership
numbers, if this is not used there is a £50 charge. There will be a £50 charge for not offering online entry with
payment. A player fee of £2.50 is also charged.
These fees are used to cover:
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The administration costs of Badminton England associated with the circuits
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The maintenance of the Grading and Ranking system.
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Other basic allied costs and support costs.
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Cost of supporting new events and those in less accessible areas who fail to make a profit.
Shuttles
Junior / U19 / Seniors / Masters
Badminton England will order these from Babolat. You will be asked to notify Badminton England of the type, speed and
quantity required of which BE will confirm an anticipated posting date.
The host retains all used and unused shuttlecocks of which the cost of all shuttles ordered will be charged to the
tournament. (excluding Senior Gold).
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Babolat 1
£14.70
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Babolat 2
£13.56
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Babolat 3
£11.82
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Babolat 4
£8.94
Even Age Group Circuit
The even age group circuit have the option of using Babolat shuttles supplied by Badminton England as per the costs
above.
Senior Gold
Babolat shuttles will be supplied for the Senior Gold tournaments (Babolat 1’s - 50x77’s & 50x78’s)
Para-badminton
Badminton England will supply 10doz shuttles for the Gold’s and 5doz for the Bronze’s if these are required.
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Medals
Junior Medals
Will be presented to all players involved in the semi-finals and finals of all events. (bronze medals must be awarded to
those finishing either third if only one group or second in the group if two groups)
Junior Even Age Group Circuit / Under 19’s
Badminton England will supply medals at the costs below. These are optional for the Even Age Group circuit and also
the U19 circuit.
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Large Medals
£7.20
(U19 Golds)
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Medium Medals
£4.95
(U19 Bronze / Even Age)
Junior Circuit
These will be supplied by Badminton England at the following prices:
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Medium Medals
£4.95
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Small Medals
£4.15
Para-Badminton Circuit
This circuit has the option of using medals supplied by Badminton England for the winners and runners up.
Unused medals from all circuits should be returned to Badminton England and providing adequate details are given on
the Referee’s Report Form, the event will be credited with the value of the unused medals.
Invoices
Junior / Even Age / U19 / Senior / Masters Circuit
Badminton England will invoice the host organisation for any expenditure incurred by them for the tournament e.g.
sanction fee, medals, shuttles, courier, hall costs if paid by Badminton England.
All invoices should be paid within 28 days of the date on the invoice. Failure to do this will lead to a penalty of 10% on
that invoice.
Refunds
Host counties will be responsible for all refunds. If a player needs to withdraw, they must contact the Tournament
Organiser by phone and confirm in writing. Competitors prevented from playing by illness or injury, or other unforeseen
cause, shall have entry fees returned in full, less £10 handling charge per person, but provided only that at least 48
hours notice is given. No refund is due if withdrawal is within 48 hours of the start of the tournament. If after the draw is
published a player withdraws or retires, the player must be withdrawn from all other events in which they are entered.
The referee has the discretion to overrule this where a player is unable to start or complete a game as a consequence
of unforeseen circumstances such as late arrival or sickness and ailments which may stop a player from completing a
match in one event but not incapacitate them from playing in further matches in other events.
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TOURNAMENT PLANNER
Over the past few years Badminton England has invested a considerable amount of time and money developing the
Tournament Planner Software to provide a practical resource to assist Tournament Organisers with the planning and
management of their events.
Badminton England has purchased licences for all English County Badminton Associations to access Tournament
Planner. The software, provided by Visual Reality, is used at all major BWF International tournaments including the
Yonex All England Championships and will help County Associations run their tournaments in a very tangible way.
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Less administration time for tournament organisers / secretaries
Consistent presentation across tournaments
Publish the tournament information on-line (entries, acceptance & start times)
Receive online entries and payments
Use of Tournament Planner is compulsory for the 2015-16 season for all sanctioned tournaments. All players must be a
member of Badminton England in order to enter.
There is a detailed user’s guide to help on the Badminton England website. To view these guides please go to
www.badmintonengland.co.uk/competition/Sanctions > Tournament Planner Users. Badminton England will consider
hosting workshops on using the software where there is demand. Please contact the C&E team to register your interest.
Player Validation Tool
The player validation tool aims to provide you with player’s information in order to save you time when receiving entries
and avoid player duplications. It uses the players membership number to pull down personal and contact information e.g.
DOB, grade, email etc for each player in your tournament removing the need for you to copy all the information from the
entry form.
The player validation tool will be accessible to all those that have signed and met the terms and conditions of the data
protection document. To receive a data protection form please email [email protected] (Access should be
limited to the tournament secretary only). Once your application is received a username and password will be issued to
give you access to the tool within Tournament Planner. Those who have previously submitted the application must
request for access at the beginning of each season. A detailed guide to how to use the tool can be found in the
tournament organisers section of the website.
Online entry
Over the past three years Badminton England has been dedicated to offering tournament organisers time saving
measures through IT solutions; starting with Tournament Planner as an event management system, direct ranking &
grading import function and most recently the player validation tool.
Benefits of Online entry
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All entry details pulled directly into Tournament Planner at the click of a button
Payment received in advance (no more bouncing cheques)
Refunds can be made online
Entry can be extended with late entry fees easily incorporated
Competitors can enter in seconds and receive confirmation of their entry automatically
Additional information can be gathered (e.g. competitor medical conditions, photo consent etc)
The key component and time consuming element for offering online entry is the setup of a PayPal account. A PayPal
account is essential in allow competitors to pay online and then transfer the money to your bank account. PayPal
fundamentally acts a holding account for all entries until you are ready to withdraw funds. It will take approximately two
hours spread over a two week period to get through all security measures to setup the account so that it is ready to
receive entries.
Like all online payment solutions PayPal is not free but it does differ from other solutions in that there is no monthly
charge so if you run 1 tournament or 10 you will pay the same rate per transaction. The rates are currently set at 3.4% +
a non refundable 20p per transaction, so on a £10 entry you would receive £9.46. This incorporated with the €27 setup
fee per tournament you can expect total charges for 100 entries to be around £100 based on a senior event charging
£13-15 per entry. Please click here for the guide on the setup of online entry and to get you started
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