Yonex Irish International Badminton Championships

Currently the only 2012 Olympic qualifying event scheduled to take place in Northern Ireland, the Yonex Irish International Badminton Championships will welcome the world's elite badminton players as they bid to secure their place at the London 2012 Games.

The Championships will be held at the Lisburn Racquets Club, Lisburn from the 8-11th December.

Badminton Ireland CEO and Tournament Director Richard Vaughan said: "Badminton Ireland are looking forward to welcoming many of the world's elite badminton players in what is expected to be one of the strongest Irish Open events to date, this is of course helped by the Olympic year focus and the Challenger grade we have been able to secure. We are eternally thankful to our main event supporters and sponsors Sport NI, Yonex, Lisburn City Council, Classic Mineral Water and Lisburn Racquets Club whom have enabled us to guarantee such a great event for badminton fans in Ireland".

Many of the World's top players will be competing in Lisburn all looking to secure their place at the 2012 London Games. Irish number one Scott Evans will lead the home charge in the mens singles, but will face stiff competition for the title from Spanish number one and world number 23 Pablo Abian, world number 29, Przemyslaw Wacha from Poland and previous Irish Open winner and English number one Rajiv Ouseph.

The Irish ladies singles number 1, Chloe Magee, will be looking to secure her Olympic qualification, and will need at least a quarter final place to do so. There is strong representation from some of the top women players, including, Former world number 1, Hongyan Pi from France; the European Junior Champion Carolina Marin from Spain and English number one, Elizabeth Cann.

Irish doubles player, Sam Magee, with new partner Mikkel Elbjorn from Denmark will be hoping to challenge for the title and will be disappointed not to at least medal at the Championships. They will face some strong competition from the Polish number 1 pairing, currently ranked 21 in the world, Adam Cwalina and Michal Logosz.

There will be no Irish pairing in the womens doubles challenging for the title, but there is strong home nation representation from the top English pair of Heather Olver and Mariana Agathangelou, who are currently ranked 23 in the world. The top ranked pair in the ladies doubles are Marie Roepke and Line Damkjaer Kruse from Denmark.

Brother and sister pairing of Chloe and Sam Magee will be head to Lisburn as title favourites in the mixed doubles. They currently enjoy their highest world ranking of 35, but are unlikely to have it all their own way with tough opposition coming from the Russian number 2s and former world top 20 pair of Vitalij Durkin and Nina Vislova and a new pair for England, Marcus Ellis and Heather Olver.

Richard Vaughan commented on the importance of bringing eleit players to Ireland, "On the performance side for the sport in Ireland we hope the event will offer a great spectacle to young talent and provide a challenge to our up and coming players. For our Irish Olympic players, Scott Evans, Chloe Magee and Sam Magee, it will be a very important tournament as all have realistic chances of winning their respective events".

Badminton Ireland will also use the event to showcase badminton and are committed to working towards providing a lasting legacy for the development of the sport in Ulster and a range of events have been arranged that will coincide with the Championships.

Richard added: "We are confident the event will provide a platform for a lasting legacy of badminton development in Ulster engaging with Schools, the local community and adding to the good work our development team has done in the Branch. During the event Ulster Branch Development Officer Ryan Prentice will be running a number of development initiatives to maximise the engagement with the local community. I hope everyone will turn out in support of the event and our players".

Dominic Walsh Chair of Sport Northern Ireland said: "Sport Northern Ireland is delighted to welcome the Yonex International Badminton Championships to Northern Ireland this December and the opportunity it provides for our local athletes and young people to witness at first hand a high performance Olympic qualifying event."

"We have worked extensively in conjunction with many governing bodies of sport, local Councils and sporting venues to attract and secure athletes and teams who will train or qualify here for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London next year. We wish all of the athletes the best of success in this event and for their road to qualification."

Councillor Thomas Beckett, Chairman Leisure Services Committee, Lisburn City Council said: "I am delighted that Lisburn City Council are once again sponsoring the Irish Open Badminton Championships especially as this years tournament is a qualifying event for London 2012. No doubt the high quality of the players will draw the large crowds to the National Badminton centre which can only help increase the profile of the game nationally and internationally".

Remy Godon from Yonex UK said: "Yonex are delighted to be the title sponsor for another Irish Open and welcome the event back to Lisburn. As the World No1 preferred badminton shuttle we hope to contribute to making the 2011 Irish Open the best to date."

Thomas Morgan, Sales and Marketing Manager of the Classic Mineral Water Company said, "The Classic Mineral Water Company is once again delighted to be associated with the Irish International Badminton Championships. It is especially exciting this year as the championships are the only London 2012 Olympics qualifying event. We wish all the competitors the best of luck and hope they enjoy a wonderful championship".

Lucy Frazer, Facilities Manager of Lisburn Racquets Club said: "We are delighted that the Yonex Irish International Championships has returned to Lisburn. The club has made a major commitment to the event being staged at the National Badminton Centre. It's a very popular venue with the competitors and also has excellent spectator facilities".