What a load of Shuttles
They don't half get through a lot of shuttles at events like this!
Chatting to Keith Parry, who has been looking after the
shuttles in events such as this for the last twenty years, you
discover some interesting facts.
You may know that the feathers on shuttles come from Geese, but it
was certainly news to me that only the right wing is used. After 20
years Barry didn't fully understand why, so I'm not even going to
hazard a guess!
Players always use new shuttles during a match, and the discarded
ones are then used as warm-up shuttles. "These players earn their
living doing this, so the demand the best and won't settle for
anything else," says Barry. "And quite rightly so too," he adds.
"It's an expense, but Carlton are sponsoring the tournament so we're
not going to be paying retail price for sure, and just as with
everything else the shuttles are built in to the running costs of
the event.
 I
asked him how many shuttles players might go through in a match. "It
depends on the length and type of match," said Barry, "but I've
known men's doubles matches to go through up to a couple of dozen."
Just then, one of the buckets used to collect the discarded shuttles
was brought back to 'shuttle control'. It was from a men's doubles
match, and Barry counted them out .... twenty eight! Blimey, what a
load of shuttles!
PS: I was asked a perfectly sensible question yesterday - "why are
you taking photographs of buckets?" ... well, now you know! |
A Familiar
Voice
 As
the early matches were introduced onto court I heard a familiar
voice ... the master of ceremonies here at the Velodrome is none
other than Andrew Nickias.
Anyone that's been to any of the squash events in Manchester and
other parts of the country will instantly recognise Andy, who has a
happy knack of bringing players into the arena feeling a million
dollars, and get the crowd going too.
 "It's
a bit different at the Badminton, at least in the early stages,"
says Andy, in this his third sting at the Badminton Nationals. "With
four courts on the go continuously you can't have the music and
lights each time, you just have to announce the match, a little info
on the players and get on with it."
"Come the finals it will be different, we'll have all the usual
razzmatazz and it's a great atmosphere, but for the first day I'm
just sitting here bringing on one match after another." (there were
78 matches on day one!).
 It's
not just the players who troop onto the arena either - they are
accompanied by the umpire, the service judge, scoreboard operator,
court mopper and up to ten line judges (it's always an even number
though).
So Andy, here's hoping your voice lasts until the finals ... |
