January 31, 2023
January proved to be a busy month for many of Badminton England’s junior players with international events and domestic camps taking place.
Here is our round-up of all the action.
Hathi impresses at U17 Swedish International
Sonish Hathi was one of the standout junior performances of January with his display at the U17 Swedish International.
Hathi impressed as he defied being unseeded to reach the men’s singles final in Uppsala, beating two seeded opponents on his way to the championship match.
After a hard-fought victory in his opening round match Hathi stunned second seed Alejandro Gallego in the second round, delivering a 21-11 21-15 victory in a commanding display against the Spaniard.
He would then beat Ukraine’s Danil Sedov in the quarter-final, before battling past another Ukrainian in the form of fifth seed Fedir Tiurin 21-16 12-21 21-19 to reach the final.
Hathi was beaten 21-8 21-12 by top seed Ivan Tsaregorotsev – a third consecutive Ukrainian opponent – in the final, but it was still a hugely encouraging competition for the Englishman.
Meanwhile, three English players reached the last eight stage of the women’s doubles.
Anna George and Rajvi Parab picked up two straight-game wins at the event before tasting defeat to second seeds and eventual champions Raiia Almalalha and Anastasiia Alymova in the quarter-finals.
Maria Mitchell was playing alongside Wales’ Ishasriya Mekala and also reached the same stage, picking up two strong victories before losing to fourth seeds Aurelia Wulandoko and Meline Zeisig.
Shout out to Sonish Hathi who reached the finals of the Swedish International Boys Singles event in Uppsala over the wkend taking home a Silver medal. Looking forward to seeing you away on international duties more often. See you back at training next week.#yonexbadminton #MKBA pic.twitter.com/7FCkcfvYIk
— Milton Keynes Badminton Academy (@MiltonKeynesBA) January 29, 2023
Junior Pathway camps
January also saw players across the Badminton England Junior Performance Pathway come together as part of training and preparation camps.
The Discover/Prep Training camp for players across the Under-11 to Under-15 age categories had a two-day camp for the first time, staying overnight at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes.
The training camp was a joint U15 8 Nations preparation camp, with all the players of all ages involved working hard but most importantly having a lot of fun as well.
The Discover/Prep camp also saw a collaboration with the GB Para Badminton Programme, having two players from the England Para Badminton Pathway at the Camp training days alongside James Farmer, one of our Para Badminton Coaches from the GB Para Badminton Programme based up in Sheffield.
The collaboration was a huge success and is something that Badminton England hopes to continue in the future.
Engage/Progress pathway players also underwent a hugely successful training camp this month, taking part in a wide range of activities designed to improve play across both singles and doubles.
As well as on court sessions, players attended a nutrition workshop and a workshop led by Badminton England’s Performance Lifestyle Practitioner, and there was the second Parents Workshop hosted by Working With Parents in Sport.
Led by Gordon MacLelland, the session focused on managing disappointment.
