Why badminton?

It’s quite versatile. At a high level, it’s a fast sport (the fastest shot recorded is 565 km/h!) and the sport requires a good balance of skill, strength, endurance, and tactics. There are also multiple disciplines (singles, level doubles, and mixed doubles) that involve very different strategies. Equally, badminton can easily be played by complete beginners in a backyard. I really enjoy the social aspect of it as well, especially at university! There are a lot of socials during the year, like Christmas, Varsity and Alumni dinners, as well as going to May Balls, pre-Varsity carb-loading, formals, pub trips, games nights… the list goes on!

What has been your best sporting moment with the Cambridge University Badminton Club (CUBaC)?

BUCS Nationals last year! BUCS Nationals is a UK universities-wide tournament held in Sheffield every year. For us, if we reach the last 32 and also play Varsity W1, we achieve a Full Blue, so it’s a significant competition. Last year, five of us from the women’s squad earned Full Blues. Previously the most we had achieved was two in one year, so it was a massive improvement! The men’s team also had some really good performances. We cheered each other on for all the matches, coached each other, had dinner, and went out together. It was a great weekend away with the team!

“Google calendar has been essential”

What is your favourite part about being co-captain?

Seeing players improve! Also, it feels rewarding to see players’ enthusiasm for training and matches grow. When the work players put in is reflected in competitions, all of the time spent organising training, leading sessions and doing admin feels worth it. Plus, having an amazing co-captain (big shoutout to Joanna Li!) makes the job both easier, and incredibly fun.

What is the toughest thing about being co-captain?

Definitely the selection side of things. Spots on our Main and Development Squads are limited, so unfortunately we have to turn away enthusiastic people at trials every year. Another difficult selection is for Varsity and BUCS Nationals. We have two women’s teams in Varsity, (six players in W1 and six to 12 in W2), with W1 also playing BUCS Nationals. Sometimes the boundaries for each team can be very tough.

Which badminton player, past or present, would you most like to play doubles with?

Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, a Danish singles player. He retired a year or so ago, but his games were great to watch as he would never give up on any shot, and always pulled off some insane dives on court. Playing doubles with someone with that level of determination would be incredibly fun.

“We have won all of our matches so far in both the league and the cup!”

How do you manage to balance your elite sport play with a Cambridge workload?

It does get quite busy trying to fit in training, matches (and associated travel!), gym, and captain duties, alongside work, and life. But I find that doing exercise and seeing everyone on the team is a good way to detach from work, and it makes me more productive when I actually do focus on work. Google calendar has been essential though!

How is this year going for the club?

The whole women’s main squad is involved in BUCS matches. We have won all of our matches so far in both the league and the cup! There are some very dedicated players on the team that make great effort to come to training, and play the matches. Our biggest win last term was Mixed Varsity. This is played by two teams of three mixed pairs each. We beat Oxford 10-8 in matches overall. Cambridge hasn’t won this since 2015 (at least!) so it was a historical moment for us.

How can those interested in playing badminton at Cambridge get involved?

We hold trials once a year for the main and development squad for competitive players in Michaelmas. But there’s loads of other opportunities to play badminton. Most colleges will have weekly sessions, and have teams entered in both the college league, and cuppers. Get in touch with your college captain or the CUBaC college league secretary for information about how to join. We also host open club nights, Saturdays 6-8 pm at Kelsey Kerridge with main squad members coaching. These are open to any students of all abilities. Signup info can be found on our Instagram, @c.u.badminton! CamUniSport also runs Give it a Go sessions every week and these can be booked on their app.

What has been the coolest court you have played on in your career?

It has to be when I trained for a week in China. It was supposedly the place where both Lin Dan (Olympic Gold 2008 & 2012) and Chen Long (Olympic Gold in 2016) had trained during their youth. Unfortunately, it was terribly warm when I went – 35 °C, extremely humid and no air conditioning!