Club History

The Wellington Badminton Club is the oldest existing badminton club in the Wellington area and also one of the oldest badminton clubs in New Zealand. According to the records of Dick Vallance, former Badminton administrator, the Wellington Badminton Club was formed in 1928 and played in the Sydney Street Hall (off Molesworth Street). The Club celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2003 to mark this occasion.

The Club has minutes dating back to the late 1950’s and it appears that the Club moved to Badminton Hall in 1959, although play was on Monday evenings. The Club changed to Thursday evenings around 1984.

Some interesting notes from 1959 AGM minutes: Subs were 3 pounds 10 and membership was 46. Membership was not automatic – one had to apply and sometimes prospective members’ applications were rejected.

Also of note are various names associated with badminton from the late 1950’s onwards, both at Club level and Association – Lubransky, Compton, Vause, Vallance, Musker, Garnham (Mike Garnham is now the WBA Solicitor).

Since the early 1980’s three former and one current member of the Club have also served on the Wellington Badminton Association in the capacity of President – Martin Lubransky, Jason Lubransky, Duncan Heath and Anna Chapman.

Graham Parker established a Junior Club in 1996, which operated 5.30-7pm on Thursday evenings, and the responsibility for this was then taken on by the Association in 2000.

Wellington Badminton Club has maintained strong membership and structure since the early 1980s, and two Life Members, Denise Fabian and Martyn Macpherson, have held various Executive positions on the Club Committee over the past 20 years. We have been fortunate to have had a healthy core group over that time, many of whom are still involved today.

Peter Sugden
President

Wellington Badminton Club

Club Awards 2023

Most Improved Player (Female): TBA
Most Improved Player (Male): TBA
Social Animal of the Year:  TBA

Wellington Club Championships:

Women’s Singles – Taylor
Men’s Singles – Blair
Women’s Doubles – Isla & Macaela
Men’s Doubles – Richard & Bryan
Mixed Doubles – Richard & Isla

Club Awards 2019

Most Improved Player (Female): Ellie McLaughlin
Most Improved Player (Male): Jaison Devassy
Social Animal of the Year:  Brenda Fan

Wellington Club Championships:

Women’s Singles – Hazel Davies-Howard
Men’s Singles – John Sun
Women’s Doubles – Lydia Brown & Isla Harling
Men’s Doubles – Richard Kirby & Bryan Montiero
Mixed Doubles – Hazel Davies-Howard & Jimmy Bass

Club Awards 2018

Most Improved Player: TBA
Most Promising Player:  TBA
Gene Kumekawa Award For Participation:  TBA

Wellington Club Championships:

Women’s Singles – Hazel Davies-Howard
Men’s Singles – Jimmy Bass
Women’s Doubles – Bennath Mitchell & Hazel Davies-Howard
Men’s Doubles – Shiva Bhaskaran & Bryan Monteiro
Mixed Doubles – Hazel Davies-Howard & Jimmy Bass

Club Awards 2017

Most Improved Player: Conor Doherty-Craig
Most Promising Player: Nathan Wilson
Gene Kumekawa Award For Participation: Bryan Monteiro

Wellington Club Championships:

Men’s Singles: Anthony Van Driel
Women’s Singles: Hazel Davies-Howard
Men’s Doubles: Gabe Martin & Bryan Monteiro
Women’s Doubles: Hazel Davies-Howard & Lydia Browne
Mixed Doubles: Anthony Van Driel & Lorraine Cooper

Club Awards 2016

Most Improved Player: Dinesh Jain
Most Promising Player: Jessica Taunt
Gene Kumekawa Award For Participation: Macaela Ward

Wellington Club Championships:

Men’s Singles: Anthony Van Driel
Women’s Singles: Hazel Davies-Howard
Men’s Doubles: Anthony Van Driel & Tony Costello
Women’s Doubles: Hazel Davies-Howard & Macaela Ward
Mixed Doubles: Anthony Van Driel & Hazel Davies-Howard

Club Awards 2015

Most Improved Player: Alastair Foster
Most Promising Player: Nathan Wilson
Gene Kumekawa Award For Participation: Tim Sayegh

Wellington Club Championships:

Men’s Singles: Anthony Van Driel
Women’s Singles: Hazel Davies-Howard
Men’s Doubles: Andrew Kingston & Bryan Montiero
Women’s Doubles: Hazel Davies-Howard & Debbie Trow
Mixed Doubles: Bryan Montiero & Debbie Trow

Club Awards 2014

Peter Campbell Award For 110%: Anna Howarth & Oliver Chow Worn
Most Improved Player: Harvey Keravel
Most Promising Player: Gabe Martin
Social Challenge Winner: Gene Kumekawa Award For Participation: Leon Lau
Social Challenge Plate Winner: Natasha Hayes

Wellington Club Championships:

Men’s Singles: Anthony Van Driel
Men’s Singles Runner-Up: Tony Costello

Women’s Singles: Isla Harding
Women’s Singles Runner-Up: Hazel Davies-Howard

Men’S Singles Plate: Oliver Chow Worn
Men’s Singles Plate Runner-Up: Mark Trembath

Women’s C/D Singles: Dorothee Durpoix
Women’s C/D Singles Runner-Up: Janis Scott

Men’s Doubles: Anthony Van Driel & Tony Costello
Men’s Doubles Runners-Up: Blair Rutherford & Richard Kirby

Men’s Doubles Plate: Mark Trembath & Suseng Lee
Men’s Doubles Plate Runners-Up: Oliver Chow Worn & Hao Hoang

Women’s Doubles: Hazel Davies-Howard & Lorraine Cooper
Women’s Doubles Runners-Up: Anna Howarth & Isla Harding

Mixed Doubles: Anthony Van Driel & Hazel Davies-Howard
Mixed Doubles Runners-Up: Richard Kirby & Isla Harding

Club Reports