Competition Regulations and FAQs
General Regulations for Tournaments
Click here to find the full regulations for Badminton England Circuit and Nationals tournaments. Specific circuits may supersede some of these regulations.
FAQ – Domestic Circuit Tournaments
Acceptance to event will be by email. If no notification received by 7 days prior to the event it is the players’ responsibility to contact the Tournament Secretary.
Each competitor will be advised by email with the time of their first match in each event for which they have been accepted. If no such notification has been received by 7 days prior to the Championships it is the responsibility of the competitor to enquire from the Tournament Secretary.Â
Each tournament will display the Order of Play in the tournament regulations details when you enter under paragraph 2 Format.
If you are upgraded after the closing date of the tournament you are eligible to play. If you are upgraded before the closing date you will be required to withdraw and will receive a full refund.
If you are asked to play after the time stated in the regulations you can refuse to play and will be entitled to a refund of your entry fee for that event with no penalty.Â
At the discretion of the Tournament Committee, entries can be accepted after entry close, but a £5 surcharge will be due per player.
Both doubles entries must submit an entry and so your doubles entry will not be accepted and you will receive a full refund for this event. If you become aware of this and would like to play doubles it is recommended that you contact the Tournament Secretary for advice.
Yes and in line with Tournament Regulations players are placed in order using grade first followed by ranking order.Â
No player or pair shall enter, or be entered in, two competitions if the published dates of the competitions overlap unless otherwise agreed with the organisers of both tournaments.
Anyone wishing to take photographs or video at a tournament must be registered by an event official (Regulations for Tournaments Appendix E-Photography & Video Registration Form). Filming should only take place to the side or back of the court and permission should be sought from the coach/parents of all players involved. Matches shall not be filmed if any one coach/parent objects. Please speak to Tournament Organiser or Referee if you have any concerns.Â
All players require to be registered with Badminton England, through setting up a Badminton England membership account. Players resident in England must be paid members of Badminton England with a minimum of a valid and current ‘Play’ or ‘Racket Pack’ membership to be able to enter circuit tournaments. Non-resident members must be a member of another National Badminton Association, that is affiliated to the Badminton World Federation, and are required to sign-up for a free non-resident account so that tournaments can be entered online.
All players may choose to upgrade their membership with ‘Compete’ upgrade, which provides additional benefits and allows the player to enter as many Badminton England Circuit tournaments for the duration of their membership with no additional tournament fees. (See membership section for more details.)
Anyone may enter an English National Age Group Championships (U17/U15/U13/U11) provided they meet the eligibility and qualification criteria below. The U19 age group does not hold to this regulation as there are very few/no qualifying events applicable for entry.
a) Eligibility Criteria:
* Member of and in good standing with Badminton England
* Does not enter the National Championships of any other Country in the same season
* Has not represented any other BWF Member Association for three years immediately preceding the date of the tournament
* Meets one of the following criteria:
- Born in England or parent born in England (and that parent lived in England for a period of 3 continuous years)
- Be resident in England at the time of entry and have been resident in England for a minimum of 3 years
- Last represented England. A player shall be deemed to have represented England if he or she shall have been officially nominated by Badminton England for a Badminton Europe or BWF accredited event and shall have accepted.
b) Qualification Criteria:
* To qualify for the U13/15/17 National Championships a player must have played a minimum of 3 sanctioned circuit tournaments or be selected to represent England.
* Qualification requirements may be waived. Application must be made in writing and include supporting evidence (exceptional circumstances only e.g. – illness or injury), to markdownie@badmintonengland.co.uk prior to the closing date.
- Whilst there are no more planned changes by the government, the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing and ever-changing situation.
- The tournament will continue to run as planned, to the published rules and regulations unless:
- The changes in government rules does not allow for the tournament to run as published.
- The changes in government rules allow for better tournament conditions (for the tournament and players overall), then the organising committee will have the right to make changes in line with Badminton England tournament guidance. However, this will be at the discretion of the organising committee based on their particular circumstances.
- If the published rules and regulations change then players will be duly informed and given the right to withdraw at that point in time without penalty.
Withdrawals as a result of changes in government guidance, will be refunded in full, however all other withdrawals, including Covid-19 and close contact tracing, will be dealt with as per any other withdrawal from illness and shall be subject to a £10 administration after the closing date or no refund within 48 hours.
The youngest Masters age group is over 35 (O35). You become eligible provided you are 35yrs old by January 1st of the year the tournament is played. This applies to each subsequent age group O40, O45, O50, etc.
The Competition Team would appreciate feedback concerning any of the Badminton England Circuit tournaments, whether positive or negative, to help improve our products. If you would like to express your views then please email competition@badmintonengland.co.uk.
Badminton England are following BWF guidelines for Para-badminton classification SH6. The link here shows this guidance.
Only Badminton England circuit tournaments, or those international tournaments recognised by BWF and Badminton Europe, are eligible for ranking points. Any even aged tournaments, for example, will not be included in the monthly ranking points refresh.
The ranking system will take the points from the last match won. Thus, if you reach a final by way of a bye in the semi-final but lose in the final you will be awarded quarter final or winner of group points. If playing in a straight knockout tournament, ie no groups, this will also apply.
FAQ – International Tournaments
There are no qualification requirements for Badminton Europe Elite Circuit or Badminton World Federation international tournaments (other than age), unless otherwise stated. Players are confirmed in the Tournament once the Main & Qualifying report has been released on BWF Tournament Software tournament page post the entry deadline.Â
Badminton Europe tournaments can be found here;Â http://www.badmintoneurope.com/cms/?&pageid=6025Â
BWF tournaments can be found here;Â https://corporate.bwfbadminton.com/events/calendar/Â
Entries to Badminton Europe Elite Circuit and/or Badminton World Federation international tournament circuit are open to all players residing in England, provided they have a BWF number, are a member of Badminton England (with a compete license) and have no outstanding debts owed to Badminton England.Â
You can obtain a BWF ID by completing a Player Profile Form found here and returning with proof of address to internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk. You can become a member of Badminton England here.
All entries must be made via http://be.tournamentsoftware.com Â
If you cannot locate the tournament and it is within 50 days of the entry closing, please contact internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk to have this added.Â
IMPORTANT: By completing the online process on BE Tournament Software (recommended to complete a minimum of 7 days prior to the BE Tournament Software entry deadline), you are only at this point requesting that Badminton England submit your entries to the specific tournament, on your behalf, via the Badminton World Federation (BWF) tournament entry software. Until you have received a confirmation email directly from Badminton England providing you with a copy of your BWF entry submitted via BWF software, you are not entered into the tournament. If you do not receive this email by 9am Tuesday morning (the deadline day for BWF tournament entry), please contact internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk to ensure your entry has been received.Â
This is to give Badminton England time to complete various admin processes prior to the official deadline. This includes ensuring entries are correct and paid for, to communicate with players, to ensure all pairings are complete where needed and to rank all entries prior to submitting to the BWF before the official closing deadline. There is no allowance for late entries therefore Badminton England closes on the Monday to allow time for any issues/queries to be resolved prior to final submission. Â
If you require a partner, please first check the list of published players who have already entered through BE Tournament Software in case anyone else is looking for a partner who you would wish to play with. Requests should be made to internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk and on BE Tournament Software no later than 7 days prior to entry deadline.  You can also contact the Host directly – details can be found in the Invitation document on the BEC/BWF calendars. Partners must be confirmed before the Badminton England entry deadline.Â
Players partnering non-English players, must highlight prospective partner’s name, BWF ID and country on BE Tournament Software.Â
Once the M&Q report has been published and you can see you have been accepted into the Main or Qualifying draw, you can go ahead and book your flights, accommodation and travel.Â
As per BWF regulations state, ‘A player is deemed to have entered… if the entry has been made and not been withdrawn by the Member Association by midnight local time of the BWF Headquarters on the closing date.  Any subsequent withdrawal by a player / pair accepted in the main or qualifying draw of the Tournament will not allow the player / pair to enter in any other Tournament with overlapping dates.Â
Sometimes other players withdraw/get injured and therefore players on the reserve list can be promoted right up to the day of the tournament.  Badminton England will let you know if this is the case to confirm you still wish to take part.Â
If you did not make it into the Main or Qualifying draw of the Tournament you entered, you are eligible for a refund of your entry fees (admin fee excluded). Please contact internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk for this to be processed will be completed by the end date of the Tournament.Â
From 3rd September 2013, an administration fee of £20.00 was added to the submission of all private entries for Senior international tournaments on the Badminton Europe Elite Circuit and / or BWF international tournament circuit. The administration fee is a single fee per person, per tournament entered. The payment of an entry fee will apply only to those tournaments stipulating that requirement. The administration fee will be payable for all Senior international tournaments irrespective of whether or not the tournament organisers charge an entry fee. In order to support the Badminton Europe and BWF International tournament circuit, Badminton England are required to fund the provision of umpires to support the number of English players attending a variety of senior international tournaments and to provide the administration of all the processes that are required in respect to submitting international entries and liaison with BWF/Badminton Europe and Host Organisers.Â
These tournaments do not require entry via the Member Association and BWF Tournament Software. Entry to U11-U15 Tournaments should be completed directly with the Host as per the Invitation document for each Tournament, which can be found via the Badminton Europe calendar provided under question 11, by clicking on the specific age group and Tournament. Â
a. Before the BE closing date, withdraw via BEÂ Tournament Software.Â
b. After BE closing date and before the withdrawal deadline, withdraw via BE Tournament Software and contact internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk Â
c. After the withdrawal deadline, contact internationalentries@badmintonengland.co.uk Â
If you withdraw after the closing date, and you have been accepted into the tournament, entry fees are non-refundable (unless stated otherwise on the Tournament Invitation). The admin fee is non-refundable post the closing date.Â
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