Badminton England’s junior stars enjoyed a busy month of both domestic and international action this November.
The start of the Age Group National Championships provided a brilliant opportunity for upcoming talent to make their mark on court with the U13 and U19 tournaments taking place.
November also brought plenty of overseas action as shuttlers stood on the podium in Spain and Sweden.
U13 and U19 Nationals
Vedanshi Jain and Nikhil Pulikkottil were the standout talents across the U13s tournament.
They combined in the mixed doubles final on Sunday to cap off a stellar day on court, taking a 21-9 21-12 win over Etienne Fan and Mutiara Mandala.
Jain’s gold medals started in the girl’s singles category when she soared to gold with a 21-18 21-14 win over Mudra Mayekar in the final, and was back on court alongside Mayekar to win the girls doubles.
Chloe Dennis enjoyed doubles gold delight at the U19 English National Championships.
She partnered Oliver Butler in the mixed doubles and Lila Dundas in the women’s doubles, coming out on top in both on a stellar final day in Milton Keynes.
In the men’s singles, Felix Wright claimed victory over top seed Michael Pang, taking a 21-15 21-19 win in the final.
With special thanks to Yonex, Official Sports Equipment Partner for the English National Championships Series
🏆 Congrats to the 2023 U19 National Champions 👏🏴 A great showcase of the badminton to come for the future 🏸🤩 Read more about the tournament here https://t.co/qI5aAUuUXB pic.twitter.com/3Tkd6eUcDn
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) November 27, 2023
U17 Swedish Youth Games
Rajvi Parab won the U17 girls singles title at the Swedish Youth Games at the age of just 14.
Parab grabbed glory against Finland’s Matilda Stahle, roaring back from her first game to force a third and win 15-21, 22-20, 21-17.
Playing against a much older and experienced field, Parab commanded the court to take her first international U17 title.
Just one week later, the shuttler won singles silver at the U19 National Championships as well as doubles bronze alongside her sister Tashvi.
Spanish International
Robin Harper and Harry Wakefield claimed men’s doubles bronze at the Spanish International this month.
The duo came through three rounds of qualifying to reach the main draw.
Harper and Wakefield did not drop a game in the opening two rounds and met Denmark’s Mads Gadegaard and Oliver Geisler in the last four.
The English pair took the lead and were well in the second game before a late rally from Gadegaard and Geisler hit back to advance to the final 17-21 22-20 21-13.
Former England Junior Programme athlete Leona Lee stormed to the women’s singles title at the same event.
Spanish U17 International
Anish Nair reached the men’s singles quarter-finals of the Spanish U17 International.
Nair beat sixth seed Elie Burgot of France 23-21 21-18 to reach the last eight, set to face third seed Gonzalo Isabal of Spain.
Despite a rallying effort, Nair fell 21-14, 21-16 to exit the competition after an incredible few days.
Images: Alan Spink/Action Photography
