A full team of badminton players has been named by the Olympic Federation of Ireland for the European Games which takes place from the 20th of June – 2nd of July in Krakow, Poland. Team Ireland athletes will compete in all five disciplines, with six athletes set to compete. This is the third sport to be announced for the European Games, which will see approximately 120 Irish athletes compete across 17 sports, with Olympic qualifying spots on the line in many events.
Team Ireland has enjoyed considerable success in Badminton at the European Games, since the inaugural Games in Baku 2015. Sam Magee and Chloe Magee won bronze in the Mixed Doubles at the European Games in Minsk in 2019 and in Baku 2015. Bronze Medallist from the Men’s Doubles in Baku 2015, Joshua Magee, will be back in action at his third European Games, teaming up again with Paul Reynolds. Tokyo Olympian Nhat Nguyen will be competing in the Men’s Singles, the Dubliner has been going from strength to strength in recent years and is currently ranked fourth going into the tournament.
The Badminton competition takes place in the Jaskolska Arena in Tarnow, just over 80km from the Krakow centre. It runs from the 26th of June – 2nd of July and the draw will be made live on the Badminton European channels on the 6th of June.
TEAM IRELAND BADMINTON PLAYERS:
- Nhat Nguyen (Dublin) Men’s Singles
- Rachael Darragh (Donegal) Women’s Singles
- Joshua Magee (Donegal) Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
- Paul Reynolds () Men’s Doubles
- Moya Ryan (Clare) Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
- Kate Frost (Dublin) Women’s Doubles
Team Ireland Chef de Mission for Krakow 2023, Gavin Noble said,
“Badminton is always one of our key sports at the European Games, and we are delighted to field a full team once again. The team will have a busy schedule, particularly in the group stage events, and there is no doubt that they will provide plenty of excitement throughout the event. This is part of the Olympic qualifying ranking journey for these athletes, so it is an additionally important competition for them.”
Performance Director with Badminton Ireland, Dan Magee said:
“We are delighted to have qualified athletes in all five disciplines for the upcoming European Games. We have a team with a good level of experience which includes Tokyo Olympian Nhat Nguyen and Joshua Magee who holds a bronze medal in men’s doubles from the European Games in Baku. We are also delighted to have a strong coaching staff travelling to the event with Iskandar Zainuddin leading the singles and Sam Magee (Medallist at both the 2015 and 2019 European Games) leading the doubles and mixed doubles coaching at the event. The Games will count towards qualification for Paris and this will be the feature event for European badminton athletes in 2023”
This is the third team announcement for the European Games from Team Ireland, in the event that will see Irish athletes compete across seventeen sports, already the Kickboxing team and Taekwondo athletes have been named. More team announcements will follow over the coming weeks.
