Oceania recently supported the inaugural Australian Para-Badminton Championships which took place on 26 November in conjunction with the Victorian Open & Graded Tournament at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre. A training camp was also aligned with the tournament – with over 40 people (including carers, coaches, players, officials) part of the 3-day event. As well as Australian athletes, New Zealander Corrie Robinson and Tongan ‘Ilisoni Niukapu began their Para-Badminton careers.
The training camp was held at Maribyrnong College, Ian Bridge from Western Australia was assigned as the lead camp coach, with assistance from Kay Coady, Michelle Au, Marianne Loh and local coaches Margaret Beakley, Kathryn Blencowe and Richard Wong.
Training on Friday 25 November began with a classroom session to introduce BA’s personnel, planned development activities and potential pathways within para-badminton. This was followed by guest speaker Heath Davidson, 2016 Rio Paralympic Gold Medallist in the Wheelchair Tennis Quad Doubles. A range of physical fitness and technical skills tests were held during the evening to enable the coaches to collect some quantitative data on all players. Training on Sunday 27 November focused on tactical game planning as a follow-on from the competition.
Australian Para-Badminton Championships results here
See more photos here & video here
