Sean Smith tells us about a new tournament taking place at the Wales National Velodrome at Spytty Park, Newport, on November 1.

Badminton comes to town in the shape of the South Glamorgan Open sponsored by local racquet sports retailer Oncourt and supported by the South Glamorgan County Badminton Association.

It is widely known that Wales will soon be the proud owners of a world-class training base for elite cyclists.

However what is not obvious until you visit the Velodrome is the area dedicated to sports like basketball, netball, indoor soccer and of course badminton.

With 12 courts located within the centre of the soon to be opened Wales National Cycling Velodrome, it will create a great atmosphere for both players and spectators.

The tournament offers all badminton players from the young to the not so young to test out their skills in a competitive but friendly environment.

Director of Welsh Badminton, Lyndon Williams, says: "The Welsh Senior Series is an exciting new development aimed at encouraging club and county players to take the step into competitive badminton.

"The South Glamorgan Open, like many of the eight events on the series is a completely new event with singles, doubles and mixed.

"With the South Glamorgan Open being the first event on the series, we expect things to start off with a bang, and hope players then decide to take the plunge and compete in a few more of the events."

At the end of the eight events, the top players and pairs from each discipline will be invited to a National Final on 13 June 2004 at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff.

For information on the Badminton Into Schools Initiative (BISI) please contact Lyndon Williams from the Welsh Badminton Union on 029 20222082.