Rumbling for the World's Badminton Elite in Birmingham
Departing very early on a Sunday morning, a crew of 40 volunteers traveled to Birmingham with plastic buckets, blue lightbulb bowler hats and blue jackets from the London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony, which perfectly matched the colour of the event's volunteer outfit.
The day of the tournament finals started with the Championships Show at 11.30am, with the Pandemonium Drummers as the first act of the local Opening Ceremony, followed by elaborate LED hoop juggling by Helen Orford and her team.
In a newly developed sequence by our own drum captain Steve Ball, three drummers with glowing drum sticks had a rhythmic conversation with themselves and the audience before the full group entered the stage area to energise spectators with stomping beats.
After our performance, we took the opportunity to watch similarly powerful Badminton finals in the Arena.
After our performance, we took the opportunity to watch similarly powerful Badminton finals in the Arena.
About the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships at The NIA
Badminton has a massive following in Southeast Asia, and the finals were dominated by teams from that region.
The All England Open is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in this discipline and attracts the world's best players.
The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham is one of the busiest large-scale indoor sporting and entertainment venues in Europe and has a maximum capacity of about 14,000 people.
The Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships have run at The NIA since 1994.