TIM AND ANDY = TAG SPORTS ........

Tag Sports are Tim Willis (South West Restings) and Andy Gudgeon (Stringers).

Tag (Tim And Gudge) Sports was formed when Tim and Andy decided to combine their knowledge and experience of the badminton market. This experience covered the grass root playing level and contacts along the south coast of England, right through to their relationships with International players as a result of being contracted by Yonex, Japan, to provide their services all around the world at every major International badminton event.

Yonex first employed professional racquet stringers at the Yonex All England in 1995. Mark Lawrence (Strings 'n' Things - High Wycombe) and Andy Gudgeon being the two original stringers of that team. In 1998, Tim Willis joined the team and has been an integral member ever since. Andy and Tim are members of the URSRA (United States Racquet Stringers Association), ERSA (European Racquet Stringers Association) and the UKRSA (United Kingdom Racquet Stringers Association). Andy has qualified as a 'Certified Stringer' and as such is one of only 2,150 worldwide qualified stringers, endorsed by each of the Racquet Stringers Associations.

As well as the Yonex All England, Tim and Andy have strung at all of the top International badminton events, including the World Championships, Sudirman Cup (Team event), Thomas Cup (Men' event) and the Uber Cup (Ladies event), the Commonwealth Games (Manchester 2002) and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. This year will see them preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Andy Gudgeon (far left) and Tim Willis (far right), with Andy Smith who they currently sponsor. Andy is the top ranked English men's singles player and is currently the World number 16.

Andy Gudgeon – Portsmouth (Hampshire)

Andy (Stringers) has been stringing rackets for over 20 years and is qualified as a certified stringer with the United States Racquet Stringers Association. Andy is one of three stringers worldwide who has a contract direct with Japan to provide stringing services at all the major badminton events around the World. Andy is one of the original members of the Official Yonex International Stringing Team which was formed in 1995. Events that he has strung at include:

Yonex All England - Birmingham, England (1995 - 2006)
World Championships - Glasgow, Scotland (1997), Seville, Spain (2001) and Madrid, Spain (2006)
Thomas and Uber Cup - Guangzhou, China (2002) and Thessaloniki, Greece (2005)
Commonwealth Games - Manchester, England. (2002)
Sudirman Cup - Eindhoven, Holland (2003) and Beijing, China (2005)
Olympic Games - Athens, Greece (2004)

Tim Willis - Newton Abbot (Devon)

Tim Willis (South West Restrings) is another of the three stringers worldwide contracted with Yonex, Japan. In 1998 Tim joined Mark Lawrence and Andy as the third member of the Official Yonex International Stringing Team. Unlike Mark and Andy, Tim had on a number of occasions played at the All England qualifiers and in 1996 made the main draw. Tim still represents Devon at County level for badminton. He is also the Official racket stringer to the Welsh Badminton Union and is a Badminton Association of England Coach (Part 1). Events that Tim has strung at include:

Yonex All England - Birmingham, England (1998 - 2006)
Welsh Open - Cardiff, Wales (2001 - 2006)
World Championships - Seville, Spain (2001), Anehime, America (2005) and Madrid, Spain (2006)
Thomas and Uber Cup - Thessaloniki, Greece (2005)
Commonwealth Games - Manchester, England. (2002)
Sudirman Cup - Eindhoven, Holland (2003)
Olympic Games - Athens, Greece (2004)