Co-organized by the two clubs of Saint-Herblain and Carquefou, near Nantes, the French Para-Badminton Championships will be played from July 2 to 4.
Wishing to organize a competition on a national scale, the CBC (Carquefou Badminton Club) asked its neighbor from BCSH (Badminton Club Saint-Herblain). The two structures have obtained the privilege of hosting the French Para-Badminton Championships, a now Olympic discipline which will be present for the first time at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in September.
If the Saint-Herblain club has been associated, it is because eight of its licensees play in the para-badminton category, including Charles Noakes, small player, French champion and third in the world in men’s doubles. He is waiting to find out if he will qualify for Tokyo.
There are seven different categories of disability. These championships will be played at the Espace Sportif du Souchais, next to the performance hall La Fleuriaye, in Carquefou. Admission will be free and open to the public and those who know this sport know that it is spectacular. The reflexes and precision that players develop are often impressive.
Philippe Molé, president of the Badminton Club of Saint-Herblain, hopes that this event will appeal to the public. “It’s a sport of inclusion, he said, in the club, wheelchair players play with the able-bodied on the same slots.”
The practice of badminton has been a real success for a few years. Clubs are often sold out. “Every year, I refuse a good hundred applications for membership”, notes Philippe Molé whose club of Saint-Herblain totals 240 licensees. There are as many at the CBC in Carquefou.
Several players who will come to Carquefou for these French championships have qualified for Tokyo, including the Nantes champion Faustine Noël who plays in Rennes.
French Para-Badminton Championships, the program
- Friday July 2 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Saturday July 3 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Sunday 4 July 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (finals) then medal ceremony
