The Irish Junior Badminton Championships get under way at Whitehall Road in Terenure tomorrow morning with one of the smallest entries in the tournament's history.

Just over 70 players will take part in the event, compared to previous years when up to 50 entries were regularly received for the men's singles competition alone.

"There are just fewer people playing badminton these days," said tournament organiser Anne Fitzmaurice, who insists that the presence of the country's leading junior players in the draw means the standard of play will not be affected. Ulster's David McCollam and Brian Moore are the top seeds in the men's singles' competition, while Pam Peard is favourite to take the women's title. Peard comes from a family with a long tradition in badminton, and it was with great pride that they learnt their late grandfather, Frank Devlin, has recently been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Badminton Federation - the first Irish player to receive this honour.

Between 1922 and 1931, Devlin, who died in 1988, won six singles, seven doubles and five mixed doubles' titles at the All England Championships, a record which remains unequalled.