INVITES
Veteran (senior) players to the
2
nd ATLANTIC OCEAN TOURNAMENTMay 28th – May 30th 2009
Click the link for more information:
http://www.badminton.no/veteraner/InvitationAtlanticOceanTournament09.pdf
Atlantic Ocean Tournament entries close:
April 15th 2009
Welcome to Kolvereid!
Summary of the 1st Atlantic Ocean Tournament 2008:
The Norwegian team!
Day 1, May 28th:
Many of the players arrived at Trondheim on the evening of the 27th, and all stayed at Thon Hotel Gildevangen, which is situated near the Trondheim Railway Station.
Early in the morning some of the players chose to visit the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, where we had an English-speaking guide.
The ship Nordkapp leaves Trondheim at 12 noon and you can walk or take a taxi to the pier. Walking time is about 15 minutes.
The weather was very nice in Trondheim, but not very warm yet.
The sea journey was fantastic, with blue sky all the way, and we could find sitting place outside in the sun. On board the ship all players got a buffet lunch at 12 noon, and at 6 in the evening dinner was served. Before dinner we had time to have a meeting where we gave some information about the badminton tournament which was going to take place at Kolvereid.
Just before the ship is arriving at Rørvik, the music starts in the bar on the upper deck, and it is possible to have a quick dance before we have to leave the vessel. At Rørvik, the players were transported to Kolvereid Fjordhotel
Day 2, Thursday May 29th.
At 10 o’clock we started for a sight-seeing trip in Rørvik and the area surrounding Kolvereid. Our aim with Atlantic Ocean Tournament is to give the players and their accompanying guests a travel and sightseeing experience. Our first stop was at Nils Williksen, a salmon farming company, who has its headquarters in Rørvik, which is approx 32 miles from Kolvereid. The fish export is Norway’s second biggest export product, and it is a very important industry for the region.
After the visit at the fish farmer, we stopped at Strandval Pottery, which is owned by Per Arne Sørli and Bente Høydahl (who also are badminton players). These two persons make quality products with a high degree of artistic expressions.
After a short bus trip to Abelvær the guests were transported to the wind mill park at Hundhammerfjellet. We admired the long windmills (which in fact is among the longest in the world) and also the fantastic view from the mountaintop. The weather was very nice; the sky was blue and almost no wind (so the windmills stopped). Many photos were taken. We arrived at Kolvereid again at 13:30.
After lunch we were ready for an international match between Norway and the rest of Europe. Europe was the winner, with the points 11-1!
Thursday evening we had a social meeting in the cellar of the vicar’s house, where we got served traditional Norwegian food; meatballs, potatoes, cooked carrots and of course with cowberries.
Day 3. Friday May, 30th
The tournament startet at 9 a.m., with matches going on until 2 p.m. After two hours of “siesta” the tournament continued from 4 p.m until 6.30 p.m. Almost every player got a lot of matches, and it was shown very good play. As there wew few players, all classes were played in round robin, and in mixed it was even played in double round!
Referee was Einar L Christiansen from the Norwegian Badminton Association, and he made a good job there.
Friday evening there was arranged a barbecue party on an island near Kolvereid. The players were transported there by boat. The weather was still very nice, and it was a magnificent evening. We had lot of grill food and beer and wine of course. After it got a bit chilly late in the evening, we got inside a house were we continued the party, and we sang songs accompanied with Anders’ guitar. The players from abroad, who had not had the experience of the light summer nights in Norway, were surprised of the nature, the light and the temperature.
Day 4. Saturday, May 31th
At 10 am on Saturday the tournament continued, and it ended at 2 pm. The weather was even nicer this day, up to 28 C. After lunch there was arranged a fishing trip, were there were caught a lot of fish, more than enough!
In the evening there eas a fare-well-party in the Red Cross House at Kolvereid, were we got served a three course dinner. As an appetizer we got roasted beef accompanied with some crispy salad, and the main course was Norwegian salmon.. Ice cream with cloudberries as desert. After dinner there was prizes for the first, second and third place.
About the tournament itself:
Because of a low number of players, the organizer decided to arrange two classes only: Veteran 1 and Veteran 2.
The Swedish players sowed up to hold a very high standard, and Magnus Gustavson won all his matches in the youngest class; V1.
In V2 Jacek Szafranski from Poland won single. In the final he beat Curt Ingedahl from Sweden. Curt from Sweden won both double and mixed double, and he was therefore elected as the best player in the tournament.
There were players from Sweden, Poland, Holland, Scotland and of course Norway. The tournament was a success both social and regarding the badminton sport, but it was a big disappointment to the organizer, Kolvereid Badminton Club that so few from Norway attended.
We hope that next year there will be more players to this tournament. The idea is to give the veteran badminton players an unique combination of sightseeing, social events and badminton.