BadZine was started in 2003, in France first, home of its two creators, Raphael Sachetat, reporter and photographer, and his friend Jean Francois Chauveau, the technical mind behind the websites. This website, which was meant to be just a fun way of giving information, soon became inescapable and a year later, its little cousins were born: Badzine Germany, then Badzine Quebec with Manuel Roesler and Yves Lacroix as chief editors.

The success couldn’t stop there and it is a whole team of correspondents who then decided to join Raphael and Jean Francois to create a Website that would hopefully make a difference in the world of badminton. Badzine.info was under way… We believe that we are trustworthy in our way of treating the information as well as enjoying ourselves in original features which you will see on Badzine.info (BZI). Enjoy!

The Team:

Raphael Sachetat – Chief Editor

Reporter, photographer, freelance and free of mind has been coming up with ideas on how to develop his favourite sport.  His target: reach as many people as he can with photos and articles to promote the game, and eventually build a charity association which will benefit the notoriety of the websites he has created. He believes badminton has to be taken as a professional sport and handled as such, keeping the fun and joyful spirit which surrounds this world.  Raphael has been a professional reporter since 1998 and has contributed to many badminton-related magazines and newspapers as well as other magazines and associations (such as Amnesty International).

Jean Francois Chauveau - Webmaster

He is the man behind the tools.  A computer engineer working in a bank in the south of France, Jeff spends most of his spare time working on developing websites for the badminton world.  After creating his club’s website, he and Raphael created Badmintonphoto (www.badmintonphoto.com and www.badmintonwire.net for professionals) which became the official photo agency of IBF.  All Badzine websites were originally created by Jeff.

Don Hearn - Editor, based in Korea

Don hails from one of Canada’s tiny, rural pockets of badminton interest but after playing and loving the sport for many pre-Internet years with no connection to the badminton world at large, he moved to one of its true meccas.  After years of following the local and international scene closely in Korea, Don joined the Badzine International team and has since provided annual coverage of badminton’s most lucrative tournament, the Korea Open and will continue to bring the action back to the badminton world whenever its best players are invited to this corner of Asia.  Though employed to assist the students of one Korean university in their quest for command of a global language, Don hopes that Badzine can promote badminton to the place it deserves as a global sport.

Jan Lin - Editor and Human Resources, based in Asia Pacific

Jan has lived on 3 continents but she remains very Asian at heart. Staunchly resistant to a nine-to-five office job, she has opted for the by-line of a perpetually curious sports journalist who doubles up as an academic at a tertiary institution in Singapore. Though football is her first language, Jan enjoys writing a variety of sports and is at present published on several print and new media platforms. She believes wholeheartedly that Badzine has what it takes to elevate the international profile of badminton to a new level!

Mark Phelan - Editor, based in Ireland

Mark lives in Rep of Ireland and outside of his day job of running two surveying firms he is a dedicated badminton fan and local player. Mark maintains and updates his local club blog and website on a daily basis and has a keen interest in following the fortunes on the lesser know players on the European and World badminton circuits. Mark has travelled to numerous International Badminton events over the past number of years and he now wishes to bring his love for the game and his views to the world audience through badzine.info. In particular, Mark will follow the fortunes of the lesser-known players and will focus on detailing the fortunes and the rise up the world rankings of the current world no. 45 men's player Scott Evans from Ireland.

Yves Lacroix (Editor of Badzine Quebec): A French- and English-speaking badminton fan living in Montreal, Yves joined the team in the early stages. Archivist and photographer, he is behind the success of the photo website as well as his own Badzine version for French-speaking Canadians. A key figure to the success of Badzine.

Manuel Roesler (Editor of Badzine Germany): German badminton expert  in spite of his young age, he has coached youngsters and has dedicated his time and effort to the world of information, working for Badminton Austria as a Media Officer.  He is also the editor and media agent of Peter Gade’s website.

Howard Kingston (Marketing): Howard spends his spare time helping Badzine in the advertising department.  An analyst for a U.S.-based consulting firm, Howard believes Badzine to be the number one provider of everything badminton. Howard currently resides in the Philippines after spending time in China and Canada.  Howard assists in the marketing of Badzine.  Contact him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


Contributors/Writers:

ASIA PACIFIC

Serla Rusli, Correspondent in Singapore

Starting out as an avid badminton fan, Serla has grown to love the role of a sports journalist that she has taken on since joining Badzine. To her, it has been two dreams coming true at the same time – becoming a part-time journalist as well as being closer to the professional badminton circuit.  Serla is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Accountancy at Singapore Management University.

Pearlyn Kwang, Correspondent in Singapore

Pearlyn is from the sunny island of Singapore, which probably explains her warm and fun-loving personality.  A part-time student and a full-time badminton fan, she hopes that one day she will be able to spread the love for badminton to her friends and ultimately, the world.  She believes that Badzine is capable of bringing badminton a notch higher in the international sporting scene and she is thrilled to be part of all the action.

Eelyn Ooi, Correspondent in Malaysia

Ee Lyn is mostly known as the youngest member of the Badzine team. She thinks she is very lucky to have been spotted and brought into Badzine, thus started her exciting adventure at the age of 15.  She loves writing and learning different kinds of languages.  She believes that Badzine is currently a great badminton website which provides a lot of information on recent happenings in badminton.  Being a great fan of the sport herself, she enjoys being part of Badzine.  Her dream is to study journalism in Beijing and to become a successful journalist in the future.

Selina Ng, Correspondent in Malaysia

Currently a student living and studying in Malaysia, May Ying loves all kinds of sports under the sun but badminton is where her heart truly lies.  She believes that badminton has the potential to become one of the best known sports in the world and she has joined Badzine to help achieve that dream with fellow Badziners.

Aaron Wong, Correspondent in Australia

Aaron Wong studied Economics and English.  Every Sunday since 1997, he looks forward more than anything else to having a hit with the youngsters at his badminton club or looking after them at competitions.  When quizzed on how to produce a backhand, Aaron quipped that it springs from the soul and is purely a matter of enjoyment.  The editor of Badzine found this Australian lost and trying to find his way to the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

Miyuki Komiya, Correspondent in Japan

Miyuki has played badminton for more than 20 years.  Badminton has given her a lot of precious memories as a player and a coach and she has always thought about what she can do for badminton.  She has heard it is difficult for non-Japanese to find a place to play in Japan. So she started voluntarily helping foreigners 3 years ago.  This activity gave her many chances to meet many badminton players including top players.  She is working as a researcher and an application programmer for an analysis of Global Warming.  After work, she takes care of her son.  Days can be tough juggling both, but Miyuki wants to make people feel happy through all of her activities including Badzine!

Gaurav Gupta, Correspondent in India

A jack of a lot of trades, Gaurav has worked across a spectrum of roles with major apparel brands, music store chains to being part of the organising committee of the 2006 Doha Asian Games.  A badminton enthusiast with deep rooted passion for the sport, Gaurav now tries to spend most of his free time at domestic and international badminton events.  He believes that being with Badzine he will be able to contribute to the success of badminton in the exciting future years ahead.  So watch out for him and Badzine at a court near you!

Gerald Jew Correspondent in Thailand

Gerald is one of the newest Badzine correspondents but has taken its job at heart with his first task during the Thailand Open. He takes care of his family in Bangkok and has been a badminton fan for many years, as a spectator and as a leisure player himself.

Manoj Singh, Correspondent in India

Manoj is an ex-serviceman who worked with the Indian Air Force from 1984 to 2005 as an Office Assistant (Administration). He is very much interested in badminton and is working for the same with Badminton Association.  Manoj was a sportsman and wanted to do something more for badminton to make it as popular as other games.

Ira Ratnati, Correspondent in Indonesia

Cheerful, energetic and unique are the best three words to describe Ira, who is studying international relations while also majoring in badmintology (but still can’t find a university that offers that major). She loves photography, yummy food and her motorcycle very much.  She connects easily with others and sometimes enjoys being the center of attention, but other times she likes to be just by herself. She is more than ordinary but less than extraordinary. Some people have said that she is a little bit too masculine to be a girl, too guy to be a woman but someday she wants to be a mom.  She has spent her whole life living in a small village in northern Bandung -- the coolest place ever!  This twenty-something girl constantly craves new experiences in life.

Lynne Scutt, Correspondent in New Zealand

Shaline Tan, Correspondent in Singapore

Dev S. Sukumar, Correspondent in India


EUROPE

Tarek Hafi, Correspondent in France

Tarek speaks five different languages but is mostly fluent in badminton dialect. Currently in process of working on his Chinese/business degree after two years of French literature studies, this 20-year-old French man desperately wants to discover every corner in the world because he strongly thinks that someone's culture is the most valuable thing in the world.  His love for all kind of literature went with his love for writing after he entered the Badzine world at the age of 17.  Totally fond of Asian culture, his dream of being a successful journalist afterwards is currently at its paroxysm.  Since 2005, he's been watching Badzine growing day by day and definitely wants to see Badzine as the most complete badminton magazine in the world, known by many and not just badminton's netizens.

Matthew Verdi, Correspondent in Netherlands

Matthew Verdi is currently living and working in the Netherlands.  He has played badminton for more than 10 years and loves the sport very much.  He joined Badzine because he found that Badzine is a good medium to meet all badminton lovers and to spend some of his time by writing or doing something related with badminton.  Last but not least, he is sure that Badzine will grow and become more popular media for badminton in the future as the sport itself has started to become a worldwide sport.

Elm Vandevorst, Correspondent in Belgium

Elm has been working and writing for the Flemish Badminton League for a couple of years now.  He follows (Belgian) Badminton very closely.  He has been playing the sport himself for almost ten years and just started to play on a more competitive level this season.  By joining Badzine, Elm wants to get better insights into the sport outside his own region and maybe recieve some tips from top shuttlers too.

Janusz Rudzinski, Correspondent in Poland



Other Specialists

Umpire's corner: Gilles Cavert (BWF Certificated Umpire)
Coach's tip: Richard Vaughan
Medical corner: Philippe Levan (France)
Graphics:  Pierre Jacob, graphic designer. In charge of banners/publicity; and Arnaud Enguilabert, graphic designer. He is behind the Badzine logo.