3rd November, 2023
October’s junior action provided more opportunities for early development as the next generation honed their skills on and off court.
The individual World Junior Championships kickstarted the month following September’s mixed team Championships in Spokane, Washington.
Junior shuttlers gained valuable learnings from the experience as many performances impressed on the world stage.
As the month progressed, the National Badminton Centre hosted a Discover Training Day led by Hayley Adcock and an Engage/Progress Camp followed, where players were invited for a more comprehensive four-day experience.
World Junior Championships
There were strong showings in the doubles in the USA as the competition moved from the team to the individual stage.
Robin Harper and Harry Wakefield took home fond memories after beating top seeds Dev Ayyappan and Dhiren Ayyappan, of the UAE, in the second round.
They took that confidence into the next round against Thailand’s Songpon Sae-Ma and Phurinath Saikamma, prevailing 21-17, 21-17, before Japan’s Kosuke Kakuta and Kaito Sugawara proved too strong in the fourth round
In the mixed doubles, Oliver Butler and Chloe Dennis had to hold their nerve through a series of close encounters.
They came through a decider against Hong Kong’s Yung King To and Hung Ho Yan (17-21 21-14 21-18) in their opener before an impressive straight games victory over German eighth seeds David Eckerlin and Amelie Lehmann (23-21, 24-22).
Discover Training Day
The Discover Squad travelled to the National Badminton Centre on October 22 for a one-day training camp led by Discover Lead Coach Hayley Adcock.
She was supported by Chris Tonks, Nicky Cerfontyne and Alex Lane and the players worked on their stamina through game-play sessions.
Themes included working on the quality, intensity, and consistency in singles rallies, along with stability in defence/turning the shuttle.
Kathryn Canham (EJP S&C Coach) was on hand to complete jump testing with the group and lead warm-ups and cool downs in readiness for the sessions.
Those that are eligible for free remote S&C programmes as part of their place on the Programme are starting to see some encouraging rewards.
This was the final Discover Training Day of the year with the next squad meeting planned for early January 2024.
Images: Action Photography
Engage / Progress Camp
Players were invited to attend a four-day camp at the National Badminton Centre during half-term, a slightly longer camp allowing the coaching team to focus on themes in more detail.
The group focused on proactive net play, deep corner neutralising and dealing with body pressure in singles.
Doubles players focused on being clinical above tape in mid and net areas, alongside working on being aggressive moving forward and dealing with pressure in defence.
The camp also worked on consistency, intensity and reducing error rates and starting rallies purposefully.
Badminton England are keen to continue to develop all key areas in players, particularly when playing against varying styles of play internationally.
Off court, Canham worked the players in the gym and workshops were delivered areas such as confidence, refuelling, education options and anti-doping.
Players worked hard over the course of the four days and it was an encouraging period for the group.
Badminton England thanks all the coaches who supported during the four days. The next time the group will get together will now be in January 2024.
The EJP Team would like to wish all players best of luck for upcoming tournaments and National Championships, an important highlight for junior players in the calendar.
