Success of Ronda!
23rd June 2025
The Nations Senior Cup is one of the most prominent international competitions in the world of senior badminton. In 2025, the city of Ronda (Málaga, Spain) hosted the event, welcoming over 400 players from 11 European nations.
Scotland joined teams from England, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales, to battle it out for the prestigious trophy.
On day one of the preliminary group stages, Scotland got off to a tremendous start. Despite the conditions being so hot and a huge roaring home crowd, we managed to beat the home nation Spain 6-0. In the afternoon we came up against Ireland. We were keen to take this match but unfortunately they proved too strong for us and won 4-2. Overall, Ireland eventually made it to the semi finals, proving the strength of their team.
The following day there were some outstanding performances against England. Everyone gave their all, but the quality in the England Team was just too strong and they won 6-0. England did go on to win the tournament, so despite the loss, we knew they had a great team and were worthy winners.
After a very tough group stage, Scotland then played off for 7th-11th positions. First off was Switzerland, where Scotland found their winning form and fighting spirit to beat them 6-0. Lastly we played France and maintained the momentum to beat them and finish on a high with another 6-0 win and 7th place overall.
This was an outstanding competition and the team spirit in the camp could not be faulted. Every player left Spain with a win for Team Scotland. In addition to this, Ross Groundwater and Alan Houston both received their first Scotland Cap and Suzanne Zwane received the Scotland player of the tournament award.
A massive thanks to Julie Dunlop, Ross Gladwin and Dan Travers who have spent several years trying to get us entered in the Nations Cup Competition. Now we are in it, I am certain we all want the opportunity to compete for Scotland at the next event in 2 years time!!
