The Opening Ceremony of the 8th European Universities Badminton Championship took place on the 21st of June 2011 in Kharkov, Ukraine in the Lokomotive Sports Hall. The Championship is taking place until Saturday, June 25.

The Ceremony was attended by the Vice Governor of Kharkov Mr. Yevgeniy Savin, the General Secretary of the Students Sports Union of Ukraine Mr. Valentyn Gavrylko and many citizens of Kharkov. On behalf of the Organizing Committee participants were welcomed by the Chief of Sports in Kharkov Region Mr. Dmitriy Perepilica who expressed the appreciation of the city to EUSA for trusting them to organize the championship and offered all the guests the traditional gift of bread and salt.

EUSA Delegate Dinos Pavlou, member of EC welcomed all participants and wished all the best for the athletes and officials who came to test their skills and abilities. He also thanked the Organizing Committee for all their contribution and efforts to organize this championship within only 5 months. He also thanked the authorities of Kharkov for their symbolic gift of “Bread and Salt”, the symbol of friendship and brotherhood. After the opening speeches, the oaths were read by a representative of the athletes and referees on behalf of all participants.

The competition is organized by the Students Sports Union of Ukraine with contribution of the National Technical University of Kharkov and the Kharkov Badminton Federation with their main representatives Gennadiy Makhnovskiy and Georgiy Natarov.

EUSA Executive Committee is represented by Dinos Pavlou and the Technical Delegate is Bastian Kruse. They will make sure that the event will go smoothly and without problems. The Competition will host 15 mixed teams from 23 universities from 8 countries.

More info about the championship can be found at www.eubc2011.com and the results at www.tournamentsoftware.com.