Tough task for Dorush & Co

Bermuda’s committed badminton team are looking forward to competing at the Island Games in 10 days time.

The 10-person team — five men and five women — will have their work cut out for them when they take to the court at the BHS Jessie Vesey Sports Centre on a week from Sunday.

Michael Palmer, Rohan Pai, Danial Hughes, Mark Haugen and Rick Dorush will compete in the men’s event while Emma Calow, Solviego Cailliere, Rowena Cespedes, Dianne Blais and Loan Khalil will wear the Bermuda kit for the women. 

The team draw has Bermuda in Group A with Guernsey, Greenland and Gilbraltar while Group B consists of the Isle of Man, Faroe Islands, Isle of Wight, Gotland and Falklands.

Dorush is doing double duty for the event. Besides representing Bermuda, he is also serving as the lead co-cordinator for badminton. 

What does it mean to be able to take your sport to a wider audience here in Bermuda?

Badminton in Bermuda has a small but devoted group of participants playing at various levels of play. 

We compete against football and cricket, which all the young kids grow up with so it is very hard for us to attract new players.

Most people in Bermuda consider badminton a recreational sport played outdoors in the backyard.

At the advanced level it couldn’t be further from the truth. So hopefully when spectators come out and see the level of play, which requires speed, agility and fitness they will be motivated to come and check out the sport, which we play at the Bermuda Athletic Association’s gym on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

What’s a reasonable expectation of how the badminton team will do?

This year we hope to improve on eighth place. Realistically we might finish fifth or sixth, however if we can pull off an upset in the preliminary round robin stage we would then be in the top four.

What’s the best finish for badminton in an island Games?

At the 2011 games in Isle of Wight we finished eighth out of 12 teams. We had a great result against Gotland in the round robin event, which allowed us to move into the 5-8 category.

Who are the favourites for the team event?

Guernsey and Greenland from Group A and Isle of Man and Faroe from Group B.

What is one thing for people to know about your sport who don’t normally follow it?

It is a very fast-paced game and requires an extremely high level of fitness. A single match can last over an hour therefore endurance is an absolute must in this sport.