Dear member of Tapion Sulka,
The new season has gotten off to an excellent start, and the players have found their place in their training groups. If you have questions about the groups, want to increase the number of your own weekly training sessions or someone you know would like to come and test our training, feel free to contact our executive director, Lasse Lindelöf, at lasse.lindelof@tapionsulka.fi.
Here is general information regarding the start of the season:
Club clothing
Club clothes should be updated right at the beginning of the season. Tapion Sulka's official team clothes can be ordered throughout the season directly from the Badstore.fi website (link in our own website). Familiar FZ Forza products and a selected, changing batch of top products are available to members of Tapion Sulka at special prices.
The new club clothes for the 2023-2024 season will be presented on Saturday, September 2, at the same time as this season’s first Ranking competition, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. You don't have to participate in the competition to be able to come and see the new clothes. During the matches, the importer of Forza will be there, who will present not only club clothes, but also other products, such as rackets and shoes. This provides an excellent opportunity to test and order new equipment for the new season. Don't forget to take advantage of club benefits when buying clothes and other equipment - they can be found below as a reminder.
More information on ordering club clothing can be found here: https://tapionsulka.fi/en/club-clothing/ .
Rankings
Rankings are very popular competition events for Tapion Sulka members (free of charge), where you get to play as even matches as possible, regardless of age and skill level, with other members. If you want, you can challenge yourself to get as high as possible in the ranking list published on the website during the season, but you can also participate in just few events and practice the skills learned in training in match situations.
The ranking events start at 10 a.m., but you should come early to warm up. The ranking event can only be registered in advance via the MyClub application. The easiest way to register is through the club's website by clicking directly on the link of the correct date. The registration is open until the previous Friday at 21:00, after which registration closes. The autumn ranking dates are:
2.9.
7.10.
4.11.
16.12.
More information about rankings and links to registration: https://tapionsulka.fi/en/ranking-event/ .
CJS
Cityjunnusulkis (CJS) is a competition event similar to the rankings, but it is organized by the Finnish Badminton Coaches Association and is aimed at juniors in the capital region (year of birth 2005 and younger). Cityjunnusulkis takes place in Talihalli (Huopalahdentie 28, Helsinki) and lasts a few hours. Registration for the event is done at the hall the same morning, after which you have a bit of time to warm up before the matches start. Registration for younger players (born in 2011 and younger) starts at 9 a.m., it would be good to do the registration at 9-9:15, and for older players (born in 2005-2010) registration starts at 11 a.m., and thus be there by 11 a.m. at the latest.
Cityjunnusulkis offers an excellent opportunity for hobby juniors and beginner competitive juniors to try competing against opponents of their own level. Juniors who actively compete in age groups typically no longer participate in CJS competitions, so the level is clearly more moderate than in official competitions of the Finnish Badminton Association. CJS dates for the fall 2023 are:
16.9.
4.11.
16.12.
More information about the CJS tournaments here: https://tapionsulka.fi/en/information-about-competitions/ .
Member benefits
As a member of Tapion Sulka, you are entitled to the following benefits:
Tapion Sulka is a non-profit sports association and all income is directed to the development of the club's activities.
Arctic Open
Badminton superstars will arrive in Finland in October to play tour competition of the World Tour called the Arctic Open!
The arena is the Vantaa Energia Areena, where the competition will be played in week 41, 10-15 October 2023. The main sponsor of the event is Supercell, which is participating with its Clash of Clans game. The prize money in the competition is significant in Finnish history terms, more than 400,000 dollars. As badminton is the second largest sport in the world, the World Tour competitions also have an impressive television presence: as the Arctic Open is a Super 500 competition, the reach will be more than 500 million households. In the fall of 2021, Finland organized the mixed team World Championships in the same arena, and according to newspaper reports, it was the most watched TV signal broadcast from Finland of all time, when the final’s broadcast reached approx. 640 million households.
This major badminton event is not to be missed! CLASH OF CLANS Arctic Open ticket sales have already opened: https://www.lippu.fi/artist/arctic-open/?affiliate=ADV .
News - stay up-to-date on the club's activities
The club informs its members about all important and current issues by email. Every month, we send a Monthly email that contains the upcoming month's events and important dates. In addition to the monthly e-mail, individual information may be communicated in separate e-mails.
On Tapion Sulka's website, you can find news and articles where you can find information about current topics and the club's activities.
Tapion Sulka is also active on social media. You can follow the daily life and events of the club on Instagram (@tapionsulka) and Facebook (Tapion Sulka ry).
This is the start of a great badminton season!
The Badminton World Championships are here again! The championships are taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark August 21st-27th 2023. All the world's best players are present, competing for medals. There will be many exciting matches, so it's worth following the championships! Unfortunately, we couldn't organize a group trip to the championships, but you can watch the matches live on YouTube and follow the players on social media. You can also track the tournament results on TournamentSoftware!
Tapion Sulka's shuttler Kalle Koljonen is the sole Finnish representative in the championships. Kalle's journey begins Monday morning. In the first round, Kalle will face the ninth-seeded HS Prannoy (India). Kalle's match is expected to start around 12 o'clock. The match is the fourth match on court three, with matches starting at 10:15 in Finnish time. Remember to cheer for Kalle!
TS reached Kalle at the competition venue for comments before the start of the tournament:
🎤 "Feeling relaxed and it's nice to go and play in the World Championships for the fifth time in my career. The opponent is almost the toughest possible, but I enjoy the role of the underdog. However, I'm not stepping onto the field to bow to my opponent, and my game condition is excellent!"
🎤 "The arena is quite slow and based on my own training, there's a noticeable crosswind. Nevertheless, the arena conditions are overall good, and I can't find anything to complain about them - quite the opposite!"
The world's best players are also coming to Finland for the Arctic Open on October 10-15, which will be played at the Vantaa Energy Arena. The tournament is part of the Badminton World Tour. It's a good idea to follow the World Championships so that you become familiar with the top players before you get to see them live in October! For more information about the tournament, visit the Badminton Finland’s website. Get your tickets for the Arctic Open here.
Here's a brief preview of the championships starting on Monday:
The clear favorite for the tournament is Denmark's Viktor Axelsen (No. 1), a two-time world champion. Indonesia's second-seeded Anthony Ginting withdrew from the championship (due to his mother's sudden passing), which leaves the lower half of the draw open for several strong competitors. Out of the 19 World Tour tournaments played this year, 18 different players have lost in the final (Fun fact by Gillian Clark), indicating that the battle for the championship and medals will be very intense. Other contenders for medals include Kunlavut Vitidsarn (No. 3), the 2022 World Championship runner-up, Li Shi Feng (No. 6), the 2023 All England winner, Kodai Naraoka (No. 4), and Jonatan Christie (No. 5). They'll be challenged by Loh Kean Yu, the 2021 world champion, former world No. 2 Shi Yu Qi, Denmark's Anders Antonsen, and many more. It's truly exciting!!
The favorite going into the tournament is Korean An Se Young (No. 1), who has reached 11 out of 12 finals this year. Impressive! Her strongest challengers are Japan's reigning world champion Akane Yamaguchi (No. 2), China's Tokyo Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei (No. 3), and Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying (No. 4). The battle for medals cannot exclude three-time world champion Carolina Marin (No. 6) and China's He Bing Jiao (No. 5).
China's Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (No. 1) are the clear favorites in mixed doubles. Barring any surprises, we might see Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (No. 2) facing off against the top seeds in the finals. It's interesting to note that in a potential quarterfinal match, one of the Chinese pairs, Huang Dong Ping (former world No. 1 in 2021), with new partner Fen Yan Zhe (No. 3), will meet the emerging pair Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin (No. 7), who defeated the world No. 1 pair in the Asian Championship final! Other strong contenders for the championship include Thailand's Taerattanachai/Puavaranukroh (No. 4, world champs in 2021), as well as Korean pairs Seo/Chae (No. 5) and Kim/Jeong (No. 6). There are also many strong European pairs, such as Giquel/Delrue (No. 8), Tabeling/Piek (No. 9), and Christiansen/Boje (No. 11). Let's hope to see European success!
The favorites entering the tournament are India's Chirag Shetty/Satwik Rankireddy (No. 2), who have shown impressive form in the latter part of the season. Additionally, Rankireddy set a new world record this year by hitting a smash at 565 km/h! Challenging them are Indonesia's Fajar Alfian/Rian Ardianto (No. 1), the 2023 All England champions, and China's Wang Chang/Liang Weikeng (No. 3), known for their spectacular play. Of course, we cannot discount the reigning World champion pair Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (No. 4), and former champions Hoki/Kobayashi (2021), Ashan/Setiawan (2013, 2015, 2019), Liu Yu Chen (2018) with his new partner Ou Xuan Yi and Lee/Wang (Olympic Champs 2021). All these pairs have the potential to surprise. It's really fascinating to follow this battle!
The favorites for the championship are China's Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan (No. 1), the reigning world champions and Tokyo Olympic silver medalists. They will be particularly challenged by Korean pairs Lee So Hee/Baek Ha Na (No. 2), this year's Asian champions, and Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong (No. 3), who have won the most recent World Tour events of the summer. Other challengers include four strong Japanese pairs, as well as other Chinese and Korean pairs. Chinese pairs have won the women's doubles world championship 22 out of the 27 times it has been held. Who will win this time?
Monday 21.08.2023 – 09.00-22.00 – 1st round
Tuesday 22.08.2023 – 09.00-21.00 – 1st and 2nd rounds
Wednesday 23.08.2023 – 09.00-21.00 – 2nd round
Thursday 24-08-2023 – 12.00-22.00 – 3rd round
Friday 25.08.2023 – 11.00-22.00 – QF
Saturday 26.08.2023 – 10.00-20.00 – Semi-finals
Sunday 27.08.2023 – 11.00-18.30 – Finals
The fall training season begins on Monday, August 14th, 2023.
Registration will take place on Tapion Sulan's MyClub website. Please Check out the group options here: https://tapionsulka.fi/en/groups-and-sign-up/ and login to your MyClub account to book your place in time!
For new members: You can’t sign up for the groups before you are a member of the club. Find out more about becoming a member from the Join the club -page.
We would like to remind you that the number of spots in the training groups are limited, so we recommend registering as early as possible to secure your desired spot. We will do our best to provide every member with the training opportunities they desire.
We are thrilled about the upcoming season and look forward to new experiences with you in the training groups. Our club officials and coaches are prepared to offer you high-quality coaching and unforgettable badminton experiences.
For the juniors practicing more than once a week, we have a quantity discount as follows: 2nd training group is 15% off. 3rd or more training groups are 30% off. The discount is from the cheapest training groups.
There is NO stair training on Sunday after Midsummer on 25.6. Welcome again on 2nd of July!
Tapion Sulka organizes free physical training sessions for all its members over the age of 10 twice a week throughout the summer. Nella Siilasmaa works as a coach in the trainings.
On Tuesdays at 6-7:30 p.m., the program includes a running fitness circuit and jumping, later in the summer also activities focused on speed and agility. The departure is from the front doors of Esport at 6pm and the training takes place in the close by area. In case of rainy weather, we move inside Esport to train. Tuesday trainings continue until the end of July, i.e. 25.7. is the last Tuesday physical training.
On Sundays at 6-7:30pm, the program includes stair training at the Lauttasaari sports park (Lahnalahdentie 4, Helsinki). Stair training is great endurance and muscle endurance training, as well as training that develops explosiveness. In case of rainy weather, the rescheduling/cancellation of the practice will be announced on the notice board (Ilmoitustaulu) on the front page of Tapion Sulka's website. There are NO stair workouts on the Sunday after Midsummer (June 25)! Sunday trainings continue until the beginning of the next season, i.e. 13.8. is the last Sunday physical training.
All exercises are suitable for players of many levels, and the strain of all exercises can be scaled according to the player's own physical level. You don't need to register for the trainings separately, and you can attend them when it suits your schedule. However, please arrive on time and be equipped with a drinking bottle and good shoes and clothes suitable for outdoor training.
Welcome!
Our club's top players Aleksi "Allu" Mäki and Rasmus "Rasse" Andersson will play an exhibition match at Esport Center on Friday 19.5. at 5 pm! In the event especially aimed at juniors, you can get to know these top players of our club and their training in an interview, watch and participate in cheering on their show-style exhibition match, even play a few rallies yourself against Allu and Rasse, and finally increase your autograph collection with the autographs of these top players! The event lasts about an hour, please be there no later than 5 p.m. WELCOME!
