SPONSORED PLAYER UPDATE

Ashaway players were in abundance at the recent English Nationals, we took the opportunity to catch up with a few a of them.

Rachel Howard is our Ladies Singles player and now a full time professional player, she has recently recovered from a stress fracture that had here out of action for nearly 12 months and is now building her fitness level and match sharpness to press on to where she belongs at the top of the england rankings and beyond.

Rachel is pictured here during here 1st round victory at the english nationals, due to her long term injury she was not seeded in the event and in the second round came up against the number 1 seed Liz McCann. The game was very tight and could have gone either way, but unfortunatley fitness eventually played a part and Rachel bowed out after a strong performance. Check out the Rachel Howard Blog here to see rachels progress this season

Mark Sellwood (pictured right)is a Mens Singles player and High Performance coach based in Birmingham. Mark is a consistent player (currently ranked at 13 in England) and a fantastic coach. Mark narrowly missed out on repeating his form from last year, missing out on a quarter final meet with Raj Ouseph, losing 22-20 in his 2nd round match.

Nathan D'Cruz (pictured left) is the new kid on the block, last year he was the Under 19 national champion and is now training full time at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes. Nathan is a real talent and a prospect for 2012. Nathan also narrowly missed out on a quarter final match up, loosing in a tense 3 set match to Harry Wright.

Also representing Ashaway at the Nationals were Caroline Westly, Ivor Griffiths, Neil White & Jo Dix.

Kirschbaum Now in the UK!

Kirschbaum is the worlds most experienced brand of poly strings and is now available in the U.K.

Kirschbaum String has signed an exclusive distribution deal with racket string specialists Goode Sport.

Kirschbaum started life 20 years ago producing string for racket manufacturers but with an ever increasing demand for poly string Kirschbaum quickly developed into a world leading string brand.

Kirschbaum has over 300 players on the ATP Tour and over 3500 contract players.

Spikey Shark and Proline II are the latest additions to the Kirschbaum range and offer all the benefits of poly string but with technical advancements for a softer more forgiving performance.

Roger Dalton, ERSA Pro Tour and Master Racket Technician recently tested a range of Kirschbaum strings and quotes the following:

The new Hybrix sets performed exceptionally well with little or no string movement. Good control aided by the multifilament crosses gave a comfortable feel.

Super Smash and Spiky Shark are as good as any Polys with no movement.

Proline II has superior tension hold and soft impact transmission.

Competion and Touch Turbo both have a softer feel, with little movement and easy stringing.

For details on the range see: http://www.ashaway.co.uk/index.php?page=category&category=24

For full Kirschbaum details contact kirschbaum@ashaway.co.uk or 01707 321397

Ashaway - On Facebook, come and join us!

We are building a facebook community, please join us:

- See photo's and videos of our contract players
- Be the first to hear of events
- Ask the experts a question on our forums
- Share the same community as our top sponsored players

Simply follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Ashaway/40735203646?ref=s
and click 'Become a Fan'

or

1. Log onto facebook
2. Search for 'ashaway'
3. Click 'become a fan'

We look forward to welcoming you.

BUCS Badminton - Ashaway Individual Championships

Ashaway sponsored the BUCS badminton individual championships for the 3rd year running and this year saw the best tournament to date.

The event is like no other, firstly there are the huge draws with around 400 competitors, but what really makes this tournament is the atmosphere that the students create which is electric, from the 1st round of the singles all the way to the mixed doubles finals, the courts are surrounded by supporters chanting, cheering and even bongo drums. The team kits are superb and some of the customes and mascots even better! They know how to have a good time too, the saturday night party (before the finals on Sunday!) is legendary.

As well as the BUCS representatives the tournament is run by a team of volunteers who work from 8.45am till 9.00pm each day, the tournament really would be nothing without them. Ashaway were on hand to help where they could at shuttlecock control, and we had support from Maurice Robinson Sports with the Ashaway exhibition, stringing service and shop (our personal thanks to them).

This years championships saw the very highest standard of competition, world ranked players included Richard Vaughan (former world no. 7) won the singles title, Richard has used Ashaway string throughout his career and despite a rest from competitive badminton was still very strong throughout the gruelling 3 day schedule.

Ashaway sponsored players at the event included Richard Wrigley (mens singles and doubles quarter finalist), Ivor Griffiths (mixed doubles bronze medalist).

Shuttlecocks - Ashaway supplied International shuttles for the tournament and the feedback on them was excellent, it was said that they were the best quality shuttle used at the tournament in recent memory.

JULIANNE COURTICE - WINS U17 BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Our latest recruit to the thriving Edgbaston Priory Club, Julianne Courtice, who has a national ranking of England Squash U17 Number 3, rose to the challenge on 26th October at Wimbledon squash club to become U17 British Champion.

Julianne committed to a demanding schedule set by coach, Mike Edwards to train towards this event, as her goal, was to excel in the British championships.

Julianne, appearing in her first National Championship Final after coming through her semi final against a tough opponent Harriet Ingham (Surrey) 3-0, went head to head with Emily Whitlock on Sunday in the final of the U17, knowing a challenge was in front of her.

A pre-match talk with her coach Mike Edwards, kept a nervous finalist, calm and determined.

Julianne managed to stay positive, with focused concentration, playing superb attacking squash to take the title in a hard fought battle going to 4 games. The final score was 3-1.

Julianne would like to thank her sponsors Black knight and Ashaway who supply her with clothing and rackets. Julianne also acknowledged her coach Mike Edwards and the Edgbaston Priory club for all of their support since joining the new performance development program earlier this year.

ASHAWAY & BLACK KNIGHT BACKING DAVID PALMER AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Goode Sport / Ashaway UK are launching Black Knight Squash at World Championships, held at the National Squash Centre in Manchester which starts this weekend (11th - 19th October).

David Palmer is hoping to follow up his British Open victory by regaining the World Championship. The picture shows David Palmer during his 2008 British Open victory with his new signature racket the ION Storm, strung with Powernick 18.

Ashaway Powernick 18 is the most used string in the worlds Top Ten squash players, as well as David Palmer, also playing in this years event:

Nick Matthews, Lee Beechill, Ong Beng Hee and Daryl Selby who all use Ashaway Powernick 18

Please come along and visit the Black Knight/ Ashaway stand:

• Get Your racket re-strung in Supernick XL or Powernick 18 by UKRSA Master Racket Technician Liam Nolan at discounted rates!
• Win a Black Knight ION Storm Squash Racket (as used by David Palmer)
• Feel and hold the new Black Knight Racket range
• David Palmer will also be popping by the stand from time to time, so don't miss your chance to meet the 4 times British Open Champion.
  

RAJEEV BAGGA - EUROPEAN VETERANS CHAMPION!

Rajeev Bagga adds another title to his extensive badminton CV by wining the mens Singles and Doubles titles in the over 40's category at the European Veterans championships in Spain.

Rajeev is the current All England veterans champion and deaf world champion (a title he has held for over 5 years). And is currently taking the veterans world stage by storm. Originally from India, Rajeev is now a British citizen residing in Coventry and is a very welcome addition to the Ashaway players team.

Rajeev is pictured here with his two winners medals. Our Congratulations to him.