Masters badminton success

On the eve of his 50th birthday, Julian Ross of Norfolk achieved his first Masters tournament trophy at the Guernsey Badminton England Bronze tournament. His partner, Louise Culyer, a current Norfolk 1st team player, went on to win two further trophies - the Ladies doubles Silver tournament for all ages, and the Ladies doubles Bronze Masters with Betty Blair of Devon. This popular tournament, held for the 25th year over the Easter weekend, regularly features a high entry with top England standard players of all ages. This year was no exception, with 31 players in the Men's singles event which began on Thursday evening, necessitating Ross and Eddie Simmonds, his Norfolk Masters doubles partner, playing until near midnight in the earlier rounds. Alex Wyett, also a current Norfolk 1st team player, completed the County representation, playing with Culyer in the Silver tournament Mixed and with Simmonds in the Mens' event. He had previously represented Guernsey when living there, in their Island Games team in 2003.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"115","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-1500 size-full","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"552","height":"502","alt":"Louise Culyer and Julian Ross - Guernsey Open Masters winners"}}]] Louise Culyer and Julian Ross - Guernsey Open Masters winners

Norfolk seniors have just completed their season with the 1st team achieving a solid 2nd place in their division in the Inter-Counties Championships. Meanwhile the U17s head off for their final event of the season - the 4 day Inter-County tournament at Nottingham, with approximately 40 teams taking part. For a warm up session, they played a senior team featuring Culyer, Ross and Simmonds at Dereham Leisure Centre on Monday, with 14 year old Joe Rolfe pushing Ross all the way in a tight singles match, before conceding in the 3rd set. But congratulations should be totally on Ross's shoulders for the number of hard fought games played over the long weekend ... and the accompanying celebrations!