Irish Graded Finals

*Postponed until 22nd November 2020, venue: Baldoyle BC*

The introduction of the new Irish Graded Nationals format took place over the 2018/19 season with the Finals for Grade B to Grade H being played with an Irish Open style showcase finals day at the National Indoor Arena in May 2019. Following the finals all players were invited back to the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown for an Awards Ceremony for each Grade. Along with a change in format to the Finals day there was a change in format for the rest of the tournament. Instead of players coming back for a second day of competition on the Sunday for the Semi-Finals & Finals, all matches up to the final were played out on the one day. This led to the biggest ever turnout for the Graded Nationals with 621 entries occurring across the 7 Grades. Three events attracted over 100 entries (Grade C,D & E) which is a remarkable entry list. Only once in the history of the Graded Nationals had a singular event attracted more than 100 entrants and this came in the 2014/2015 season when the Grade E had 106 entries. On the back of the success of the Irish Graded Finals, winners from Grades E-H were asked to represent Ireland in a Graded International event with England, Scotland & Wales. Click the video below about the Graded International.

 

Irish Graded Finals 2020 - 22nd November 2020

Following on from the success of the 2019 Irish Graded Finals, the format of the competition will stay the same with only one change. 

*Due to the large entries in the 2018/19 season a decision has been made to limit all entries per event to the first 32 entrants for the 2019/20 season. The remaining players will be put into the reserve list. This will therefore guarantee that play can be completed during one day of competition and players are not exceeding the recommended number of matches per day. *

All the Graded National Finals will be held on the 9th May 2020 at the National Indoor Arena. Each player will be included in marketing before the event & will be included in a match day programme. The arena will be set up in an Irish Open style and players will play on the Mats used at the AIG FZ Forza Irish Open 2019. Each match will be streamed on Badminton Ireland YouTube. Click the image to see some of the action from the Irish Graded Finals 2019.

 

 

Following the event there will be a prize giving ceremony at the Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown after the conclusions of all the matches. All spectators will be able to attend the finals free of charge and Badminton Ireland strongly encourages players to bring as many friends and family as possible to share this experience. 

 

To reach the FZ Forza Irish Graded Finals 2020, players will need to reach the finals of their respective Graded National.

 

2019/20 Grade Nationals are as follows:

Grade B - 21st March 2020 - National Indoor Arena

Grade C - 14th December 2019 - Baldoyle Badminton Centre

Grade D - 22nd February 2020 - Baldoyle Badminton Centre

Grade E - 21st March 2020 - National Indoor Arena

Grade F - 14th December 2019 - Baldoyle Badminton Centre

Grade G - 22nd February 2020 - Marino Institute of Education

Grade H - 21st March 2020 - National Indoor Arena

 

Full list of 2020 finals can be found on Badminton Ireland Tournament Software