Western Suburbs Badminton Association coach Ann-Louise Slee has shown her squad how it’s done on the court by combining with her ex-national doubles partner Talia Saunders to win a state title.
Slee and Saunders were the top-seeded pair in the women’s doubles at the Yonex Victorian open championships and they lived up to the billing with a stunning come-from-behind 18-21 21-18 21-16 victory over New South Wales second seeds Sylvinna Kurniawan and Jennifer Tam in a gruelling three-set final at Albert Park.
Slee also reached the semi-finals in the open mixed doubles with partner Ashwant Gobinathan.
Slee and Gobinathan were the top seeds in that section at the Open, but were shocked 16-21 21-7 19-21 by third seeds Joel Findlay and Nhi Phung.
Eight WSBA-aligned players featured at the Open.
Eric Vuong and Matthew Chau, No.4 seeds in the open men’s doubles, were taken out by the top seeds and eventual winners Ross Smith and Robin Middleton in the semi-finals.
David Cutroni partnered with Andrew He to lose a marathon three-set quarter-final of the open men’s doubles.
Cutroni, partnered with Catherine Mashalidis in open mixed doubles, also lost in the quarters.
Shaun Matthews, Rudy Rigg, Ella Bradwell and Lily Rigg produced some creditable performances in their open events.
Altona Badminton Centre stadium manager Ron Gray says badminton is booming in the west.
The WSBA numbers are slightly down due to the number of badminton centres that have opened up in the past decade since the sport’s exposure at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
“Because it’s so popular, five other venues have opened up in the area,” Gray, a Badminton Victoria life member, said.
“Our numbers are slightly down, but the sport is going strong in the western suburbs. It’s great for badminton in the area because there’s so much more opportunity for people to come and play now.”
Badminton has been played at Paisley Park’s Altona Badminton Stadium since 1985.
Some of the west’s top young players call the club home.
“A big focus for the centre is our junior development program,” Gray said.
“We have about 75 juniors in our squad, training for a minimum of two hours a week and some training up to eight hours a week while playing pennant competition.
“The players regularly enter into open and underage tournaments along with team competitions.”
Next year will be huge for the Altona Badminton Centre as it’s hosting an under-13 interstate series between Victoria and New South Wales, a regional team’s challenge from those states, as well as the under-13 Australian championships and under-19 Australian junior international championships.
The WSBA will be holding a ‘come and try’ day at the Altona Badminton Centre on December 18 from noon to 3pm.
