Badminton England updated player gradings on Friday 29th October 2021, the first update since the delayed November 2020 update. Understanding rankings and gradings can be a bit of a minefield which is why I'm delighted to share with you some Q&As, helpfully curated by our guest blogger, Alan Adkins.
Alan is the Juniors Coordinator for Essex County Badminton Association and has helped run a number of circuit tournaments. These are some of the common questions he receives from parents and players...
Q: What are gradings?
A: In brief, gradings are assigned by Badminton England to reflect a player's standard. The highest grade is 'A' and the entry grade (at which the youngest players start) is 'J'. The idea is that junior players' grades increase as their game develops and they play more and it helps them select the appropriate tournaments.
Q: How can I find my child's grade?
A: You can look it up here. In the player's profile, there will be 3 letters below their county. For example, 'I, I, J'. This reflects their grade in Singles, Level Doubles and Mixed Doubles respectively.
Q: How does a player get graded in the first place?
A: They will be allocated a default grade based on their age the first time they enter a circuit tournament. For example, an U15 player will have a default grade of 'I'.
Q: Do gradings matter?
A: It is best not to be too obsessed with gradings. However, they do have an important role in tournaments.
First, the Bronze and Silver tournament circuits have grading cut-offs with a maximum grade. This is intended to ensure the strongest players cannot enter. For example, for U13 Bronze tournaments, the maximum grade is 'I' meaning that players graded 'H' and above cannot enter. Higher-graded U13 players will enter U13 Gold (and/or U15 Bronze). Gold tournaments do not have a grading cut off.
Second, Badminton England circuit tournaments accept eligible players in order of grading then ranking. So if the tournament is over-subscribed then only the higher graded/ranked eligible players will be accepted. A recent example was the Girls' Singles event in the recent Herts U13 Gold.
Finally, the seedings in a tournament are based on grading (then ranking; if two players are graded equally then the higher ranked one will be seeded higher).
Note that it is the grading on the tournament's acceptance date that counts; which is why occasionally you will see players with a current grade above the cut-off playing in a Bronze or Silver tournament.
Q: How do I get upgraded/downgraded?
A: Going forward, it is expected that Badminton England will revert to the usual schedule of updating gradings in Sept, January and May (i.e. so the next update is expected at end-January 2022). There is also an appeal process for any players who believe their grade is too low (or too high).
Q: Which events count towards gradings?
A: Badminton England tournaments (Bronze, Silver, Gold), the Essex Junior Restricted, and also Shires League matches all count towards gradings.
Q: How does the calculation work?
A: The gradings are based on 'qualifying matches' - meaning 'qualifying wins' (wins over equal or higher graded opponents) and 'qualifying losses' (losses to lower graded opponents). The system looks at your win to loss ratio (80%) of qualifying games within the grading period to determine whether to change a player's grade (subject to a minimum number of qualifying games). Note that only qualifying games count - it does not matter how many times you beat weaker-graded opponents, nor how many times you lose to same-graded or higher graded opponents.
Q: How does it work for doubles?
A: Essentially the same as singles except that each player's grade is compared with the average of their opponents. Also note that level doubles and XD are separately graded so, for example, you can be one grade for singles, and a different one for each of GD/BD and XD.
Q; What about rankings? How do they work?
A: That will have to be the subject of a separate blog!
I'd personally like to thank Alan for taking the time to answer some of the key questions around Badminton England gradings. If you do have any further questions then please do not hesitate to get in touch :)