What a great first English Para-Badminton International! Got my first International medal receiving Bronze in the mixed doubles which I am really pleased with and Team England came away with a total of 13 medals; 4 Gold, 5 silver and 4 Bronze!

Badminton England have a write up of the weekends action. To add to this I would have to say match of the tournament goes to the all Korean WH2 Mens singles final. It was the final match of the tournament lasting over an hour and the level of these 2 players was just absolutely phenomenal!! Showcasing just why this sport deserves to be in the Paralympics and the spectacle that it has to offer and ending in a standing ovation from all spectators that were present! Simpy superb!

Badminton England hope to make this an annual event and I already cannot wait until next years which I would expect to even bigger and better!

Officials and organisers report that they enjoyed this event even more than they do the able bodied events with all the off court togetherness, harmony and friendliness.

Pictures from the tournament can be found here

Hi Paul

Before the tournament I was confident that with a good draw and performance I could achieve at least a Bronze medal in the doubles or mixed doubles, which I did. Weirdly though I feel a bit unsatisfied that although I achieved my target I wasn't happy with how I played through out the tournament.

In the match to win the Bronze the first 2 games I was pretty poor, making a lot of unforced and unnecessary errors, getting annoyed at myself and my focus was in pieces. The final game after the first few points my partner picked up an injury with her back and was in quite a bit of pain but managed to play on. It was at this point things looked bleak as I wasn't having the greatest of matches and my partner who was playing well and ultimately keeping us in the match was now hurt so I thought to myself 'just go for it'. I regained my composure and we then cruised to a 21 – 8 victory! That final game was probably the high point for me.

I also had a singles match vs a player from Russia. I had never seen him play before but knew that the Russians were one of the strongest European wheelchair players so expected a tough game. The first game I led 11 – 5 but I had completely the wrong mind set through out the rest of the match. Because I expected him to be a very good player I thought I was probably just lucky to have such a lead and expected him to come out firing after the interval and up his game, at the interval I even said to the team coach 'hes probably going to up his game now'.  To be truthful the opposite happened; my opponent didn't up his game, I lowered mine. he scored a couple of points and I virtually self destructed, with poor shot selection and errors, losing the lead I had and losing the game 20 – 22 followed by the second game 17 – 21.

My coach had a quick word with me after the match basically saying I should have more belief in my own ability instead of worrying that my opponent might have another level to his game. I had a good lead and should have shown more urgency to close it out instead of remaining passive and anxious.

What I've taken away from this tournament is really just a confirmation of what I've thought of my performances for a long time; that I am my own worst enemy/biggest challenge on the court. When tense and anxious my level is well below what I am capable of (the same for everyone I suppose) and a lot of errors creep into my game and my movement and reading of the game becomes sluggish. 

In short I'm satisfied I reached my goal and got my first International medal, but feel I could give so much more in terms of my performances.

Next up is the European championships in September. From now till then I will be progressing my strength and conditioning training with oneathlete, a sports support performance team that I joined in early May that specialise in working with disabled athletes, and in light of this tournament I will also be doing some mindset work with them to help tackle my nerves and maintain focus.

I also plan to do a lot of training to improve my court coverage and speed up my movement. After watching the Koreans play their final I had realised just how much slower I am in my movement compared to them. Their ability to cover the court in their chairs is incredible.

Owen