Badminton is booming in Tonnay-Charente

The Tonnay-Charente municipal complex hosted the senior departmental badminton championships, an event that demonstrates the growing enthusiasm for this sport.

The Tonnay-Charente municipal complex hosted the senior departmental badminton championships for the first time on April 26 and 27. Organized by the Bad'Alliance Tonnay-Charente club (BATC), under the auspices of the Charente-Maritime Departmental Badminton Committee (Codep 17), this tournament brought together 195 participants, representing nearly 290 matches over the two days, with players from all over the department coming to "defend" their club's colors. For Marion, from Lagord, these friendly encounters are a real pleasure, especially since "we have more and more young people joining us."

In fact, badminton is benefiting from the "2024 Olympic Games effect," explains Patrick Wagner, vice-president of the BATC since the recent reshuffle of the steering committee; since the September resumption, the Bad' Alliance Tonnay-Charente club has seen a resurgence of interest in the discipline, bringing the number of its members to 110, half of whom are young people.

The weekend's results are positive for the BATC: Thomas Denis and Cécile Rebours, departmental champions in mixed series 6, Tom Bourdaux Six, departmental champion in men's singles series 4, Ethan Viaud, departmental vice-champion in men's singles series 3, Jérôme Couilleaud and Florence Savary Couilleaud, departmental vice-champions in mixed series 3.

The competitive season runs from October to mid-July. For the BATC, the next local event is the organization of the ^11th annual tournament, in November 2025. For several years, all club events have been strictly eco-responsible: recycling (waste, shuttlecocks), use of recyclable materials preferred (cutlery, cups), carpooling recommended.

The courses are supervised by qualified coaches: for adults, on Mondays (8:30 p.m.) and Thursdays (7 p.m.), and for young people from 5 years old, accompanied by their parents, on Tuesdays (6 p.m.).

Information: [email protected]; 06 80 52 99 19; www.badminton-tonnay-charente.fr