HUDDERSFIELD Badminton League have opted to make a major change to the staging of their top tournament.

Last season’s popular Handicap competition was a complete ‘white out’ after the February schedule was wrecked by snow and ice.

So with that in mind the committee have chosen to switch the competition to November, running from Monday, November 9, until Friday 13.

Previous tournaments have attracted very high numbers, particularly for the Mixed Doubles, so the committee are recommending, with limited entries and a first-come, first-served basis, players should get their names in as soon as possible.

The Ladies Doubles events are being held together at the same venue, although it is decided they will be run independently.

The full schedule is:

Monday (9th): Men’s B at Flying Feathers (Fartown) 7-10pm.

Tuesday (10th): Ladies A & B at VSJ (Newsome) 7-10pm; Men’s A at Royds (Paddock) 7.30-10.30pm.

Wednesday (11th): Mixed B at Holmfirth (Honley High) 7.15-10pm; Mixed A at Kirkburton (King James’s) 7-10pm.

Friday (13th): Veterans Open (45 & over) Mixed at VSJ (Newsome) 8-until late.

A section: Divisions 1-3; B section: Div 4-6.

The entry fees remain as last year with £5 per person per entry for adults, and £2.50 for juniors (cheques made payable to Huddersfield District Badminton League) .

Entries should be sent to Anne Bricklebank e-mail: anne@hdbl.org.uk or telephone 07990 575660, and the closing date is Friday, November 6.

Huddersfield Eagles Junior team played their first league match against Valley St James, and put up a good performance before going down 5-1.

Most of the Eagles have had no previous match experience, and six out of the eight on show are part of the Eagles training programme.

The Eagles team included Billy Prady, Oliver Platt, Steven Ferrari and Matthew Birkenhead. The Valley St James squad was Alex Booth, Swee Lim, Sukjeet Sodhi and Oh Tan.

In this week’s League programme, Kirkburton C gained a 6-3 victory over Flying Feathers B in a Division II clash in which Burton’s Ladies new ‘pink strip’ inspired them to win all three rubbers.

Brenda Hemmings in particular was in tremendous form, winning both her Ladies rubbers, plus the Mixed with Kevin Ruttle, who was also unbeaten in the match.

Steve Nottingham and Andy Pickett gave Feathers their first point, while the two men later teamed up with Hilary Fort and Marie Whitehouse to add some respectability to the scorecard.

Kirkburton C 6 Flying Feathers B 3

Men: Kevin Ruttle & Mark Earnshaw bt Andy Boothroyd & Steve Nottingham 21-18, 21-18; Ruttle & Jim Hemmings bt Boothroyd & Andy Pickett 21-14, 15-21, 21-19; Earnshaw & Hemmings lost to Nottingham & Pickett 20-22, 15-21, 6-21.

Ladies: Brenda Hemmings & Jane Wooding bt Lorraine Walker & Hilary Fort 21-17, 21-12; Hemmings Nicky Faulkner bt Walker & Marie Whitehouse 22-24, 21-15, 21-10; Wooding & Faulkner bt Fort & Whitehouse 24-22, 20-22, 21-16.

Mixed: Ruttle & Hemmings bt Boothroyd & Walker 17-21, 21-13, 21-13; Earnshaw & Wooding lost to Nottingham & Ford 19-21, 11-21; Hemmings & Faulkner lost to Pickett & Whitehouse 10-21, 25-23, 18-21.