Asked To Bring Own Shuttles

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31027, 5 April 1966, Page 19

Asked To Bring Own Shuttles

fXeiv Zealand Press Association/ WELLINGTON. Such is the shortage of badminton shuttles in New Zealand that competing countries in the Über Cup competition, to be played here later this year, have been asked to bring their own supply of shuttles for practice.

The secretary of the New Zealand Badminton Federation, Mr G. F. Vincent, said yesterday he was writing to the five countries concerned.

The Über Cup is the trophy for women’s international badminton.

“There is a desperate shortage of shuttles for the first half of 1966, even under the existing licences. What the effect of the new schedule will be is anybody’s guess, but it will make matters far worse,” he said.

“We just haven’t the shuttles to spare for practice purposes. We had to get special licence to import shuttles for the matches themselves,” he said. Mr Vincent said that the four host associations— Auckland, Otago. Hawke's Bay and Wellington—had advised that they could not get enough shuttles for their own purposes, let alone provide overseas teams with an adequate supply for practice. “An additional £2OOO to £3OOO worth of licence would be sufficient to relieve the whole position. We have been trying to do something about the shuttle shortage for 20 months now,” said Mr Vincent.

Thj s year’s Über Cup finals marks the first time the cup has been contested outside the holding nation since the first competition was held in 1956-57.