The Scottish Cup

Badminton Scotland is delighted to announce the return of its premier inter club competition, The Scottish Cup.

The Scottish Cup is the pinnacle of club badminton and attracts teams from all corners of Scotland. The competition is an exciting prospect for affiliated clubs who will have the opportunity to go on cup runs, play competitively against other teams and develop match play skills.

This will be the third year of Badminton Scotland’s national Club/Team competition. The feedback from last year’s event has been good with many players indicating that it was great to compete for their club in a team environment and play against teams that they would not normally come into contact with. This year we are introducing a Junior event and have taken some of the suggestions from clubs/players to improve this year’s event.

It has always been in the plan for the events to have all teams with equal players of male and female. However, although we are trying to encourage more female players there is still a shortage and could curtail some teams from entering. So we are keeping the team sizes the same as previous years, 4 male and between 2 and 4 female per team.

The format of the event will be the same as previous years with Regional Qualifying rounds, a quarter final stage and then a Semi Final/Final. It is hoped that we will secure sufficient Teams to be able to organise Regional Qualifiers in each region. However, if this is not possible we will merge regions the same as we did for last year’s event. This will depend on the number of entries and the plan at present is as layed out on the Just Go page.

Who is eligible to take part? – All affiliated clubs in Scotland can enter teams with a cost of £65 per team for Adults and £50 per team for Juniors. Teams will consist of 4 men/boys and between 2 and 4 ladies/girls. All clubs wishing to enter Scottish Cup competition would complete the online entry form, via JustGo, submitted to Badminton Scotland by 29 November 2024. Badminton Scotland would then inform the Groups of the teams playing in their respective regions. This will then enable area/regional qualifiers to be drawn.

Criteria for who is eligible to play for clubs/teams – Club/Team players must be bona-fide members of club/team, registered with club on Just Go Membership system and have a current Badminton Scotland affiliation. They should also have played in the group matches prior to entering the national knock-out stages. A player is only permitted to play for one club/team per season in the Scottish Cup competition. Anyone can enter ages 16+ for the Adult event and up to 15 years old for the Junior event.

Over what period is the competition run? The event will run from January 2025 to June 2025, details above of the proposed dates for each section of the event.

How is it run? – The Groups or Badminton Scotland will organise the local regional qualification stage. This would involve making the draws and organising play on the day. Depending on time constraints, the regional group/Badminton Scotland can decide the scoring format of their respective qualifying event. It is hoped that 3 sets to 21 with setting could be achieved. However, if this is not possible due to the number of matches being played, other scoring formats can be chosen. For example, 1 set to 21 with setting, 3 sets to 11 or 15 etc. This should be agreed in advance so all teams are aware. Badminton Scotland will provide score sheets for all matches. Depending on the number of teams per area, a total of 8 teams will progress to the quarter final stage. Badminton Scotland will provide Victor Gold Champion shuttles for each round of the competition.

There will be 8 Teams progressing to the quarter final stage. We would hope to have 4 qualifying events. This will depend on entries. If this was the case then 2 teams per qualifying event would progress. However, as in previous years we have only had enough Teams for 3 qualifying events and the remaining 2 spacers would be made up of the 3rd place qualifiers from the events with the most Team entries.

BS will make a draw from the qualifiers to match up teams for the quarter finals. The Team Captain’s will be notified and given their opponents and a time (morning or afternoon) to attend the SCRBC for their respective fixture.

If any team withdraws after qualifying for the knock out stage, their opposing team will automatically receive a bye to the next round.

The Quarter Finals, Semi-Final and Final will take place on Saturday 31 May 2025 and Sunday 1 June 2025 for the Junior event and Saturday 7 June 2025 Adults and 8 June 2025 for the Adult event both will be played in the Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Centre. Badminton Scotland would organise and supply all necessary equipment, including shuttles.

What do teams consist of? – Club teams will consist of 4 males and between 2 and 4 females.

Is there any age limit? – Teams can choose their players but all must be members of Badminton Scotland and linked to the respective club. Ages for the Adult event will be 16 years and over with the Junior event being up to 15 years old.

Who deals with complaints & disputes? – In the regional stages the Group committee/Badminton Scotland will deal with any issues arising with support from Badminton Scotland, in the national knock-out stages Badminton Scotland will deal with any complaints or issues.

How many clubs are eligible from each group? – Any number of teams can enter and it will be broken down into manageable sections. It may be necessary to merge regions to provide suitable numbers for a competitive days play. If there are sufficient clubs entered, we may have another knock out round prior to the quarter final stage. This will be the same format as the quarter final and BS will complete the draw for this and inform the Team Captains.

Carolyn Young, President of Badminton Scotland said:

“It was really pleasing to see a successful Scottish Cup competition last season, congratulations again to County BC. Lots of great feedback from those who participated in terms of competition and atmosphere as clubs progressed. I look forward to what should be another great event.”

The initial stages of the competition will be played in group areas with the winning clubs from the groups going through to an exciting national knock out stage. This will be followed by finals with location and venues to be confirmed.

Do you think your club could be the best in Scotland? Full details of The Scottish Cup including the entry form are now available on JustGo.

The Scottish Cup is our premier inter club competition launched in 2022/23 is the pinnacle of club badminton and which attracted teams from all corners of Scotland.