Last 11^th to 15^th of May, the Badminton Europe Umpire Course was held in Medvode, Slovenia which was done together with the Slovenia International which is an International Series tournament on Badminton Europe’s Circuit.

There were 12 umpires who joined and 9 of them weren’t from Slovenia. The organizers of the event did their best to arrange the finest conditions for the participants and the two instructors namely Carol Ui Fhearghail and Malcolm Banham.

During the first day, the participants were taught regarding the Laws and Recommendations for technical officials. During the Slovenia International, the practical umpiring took place which was played for 4 days in the Sport Hall Medvode. All participants of the event were very eager to learn and take action so they can give a good feedback about the course.

You can visit www.BadmintonEurope.TV to see how the players and the umpires went through the course and likewise watch the matches from the 2011 Slovenia International.

Slovenian athlete Petra Majdic won over her opponents for the cross-country World Cup sprint title while Joensson from Sweden won the men’s division. The Slovenian representative led the race from beginning until the end held at Stockholm’s royal palace. She beat Norwegian pair Marit Bjoergen and Maiken Caspersen Falla that finished two minutes and 28.4 seconds behind her. Bjoergen got 2.8 seconds back while Caspersen Falla was behind for 4 seconds.

Tina Maze, a Slovenian athlete is the first Slovenian to win an Alpine skiing world championship during the women’s giant slalom held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. She won the gold model as she defeated Federica Brignone from Italy by nine-hundredths of a second finishing at 2 minutes and 20.54 seconds.

Slovenia beat Iran Slovenia in the U16 Türk Telecom International Tournament basketball game. Iran lost to Slovenia with a score of 71-60 in Group B last Saturday. The Iran basketball team will be playing with Bulgaria who has recently defeated China during the second match. The U16 Türk Telecom International Tournament brought 12 basketball teams in total and the said event takes place in Gaziantep and will last up to February 12.

This coming August 28 to September 3, the Serial Cup which is a serial-class only paragliding competition will take place at Tolmin, Slovenia. The objective of such competition is to develop the skills of the cross country pilots especially in their distances flown, competition tactics, grasping their conditions, and the like. This is actually somehow related to the Ozone Chabre Open.

The pilots that will be included in the top-level competition will be announced the following month. Every pilot will give their talk on relevant subject matters together with flying the tasks on EN B wings together with other participants. Almost 125 pilots will be part of the Serial Cup and it will cost €120 before 31 March, €150 until 31 July and €170 thereafter to be part of the event. You can visit Slo-Comps registration system to be part of the event.

From May 28 to June 4, 2011, the 2011 British Paragliding Open series happens at Kobarid. There is approximately 150 places available during this FAI Cat 2 event.

For the event, xTc and Passion Paragliding will be joining forces to run a pre-comp training week from May 22 to 28 for the pilots to get familiar with the area, its launches and cross country potential. The total training week costs will be £395 (475€) which covers the transfers/flying fees, guiding and training but excluding accommodation. To know more about this or perhaps book on the course, you may get in touch with Brett or Toby. After the event, the Polish competition will follow to be held at the same location.

The first few days of 2001 were victorious for Slovenia as two of their female athletes won in their winter sports. Petra Majdič, Slovenian cross-country star garnered gold during the women’s sprint final in the Tour de Ski series in Oberstdorf last Sunday. On the other hand, Justyna Kowalczyk from Poland got the second place and Astrid Jacobsen from Norway got the third place.

On the same day, Tina Maze, Slovenia’s best woman skier garnered second place in Sunday’s World Cup parallel slalom race held in Munich, Germany. She finished 47 hundredths of a second behind Maria Pietila-Holmner of Sweden who won the competition.

Slovenia got the deal with FIBA’s basketball governing body for their rights to host with coming European Basketball Championships 2013 as stated by the Government Communication Office (UKOM) after Prime Minister Borut Pahor met with the FIBA Europe secretary general Nar Zaolin last Wednesday. According to the UKOM director Darijan Kosir, he told the press that both sides have reached with an agreement that allows the tournament to be awarded in Slovenia. The said agreement is projected to be initialled this Thursday.

Slovenia, among the other European countries is the only candidate to host this coming 2013 European Basketball Championship. According to STA, the European basketball championships will increase into twenty four teams this coming year 2013.

The FIBA Europe board has finally decided to expand the tournament taking place every two years by eight teams and at the same time get rid of the two-tier format. For the woman’s tournament, they will stay as a 16-nation competition.

Matjaz Kek, the Slovenian coach finally presented the names of the 23-man squad for Slovenia’s upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers. The troop of Kek’s tackled Faroe Islands this October 8, and Estonia too four days after Slovenia tries to qualify for the Poland and Ukraine tournament in two years’ time.

Slovenia is currently positioned second from the bottom in Group C who has claimed a point from their 2 opening matches. The country lost 1-0 at home to Northern Ireland during their group opener which was followed by a result by drawing 1-1 away to Serbia.

The Slovenian 23-man squad names are as follows: for the Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovic (Udinese), Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova), Jan Koprivec (Udinese). For the defenders: Miso Brecko (Cologne), Marko Suler (Ghent), Matej Mavric Rozic (KSV Superfund), Bostjan Cesar (Chievo Verona), Bojan Jokic (Chievo Verona), Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow), Matija Skarabot (Ghent). For the midfielders: Armin Bacinovic (Palermo), Josip Ilicic (Palermo), Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow), Aleksander Radosavljevic (ADO Den Haag), Robert Koren (Hull City), Haris Vuckic (Newcastle United), Valter Birsa (Auxerre), Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem). For the forwards: Nejc Pecnik (Nacional Madeira), Tim Matavz (Groningen), Zlatan Ljubijankic (Ghent), Milivoje Novakovic.