March 2, 2023
Another jam-packed month saw youth of all levels sharpening their skills and honing their craft, with national camps and international events providing valuable experience to a variety of young pitchers.
Here’s our summary of the February action:
Rajvi Parab gets three medals in the 8 Nations Sub-15
Rajvi Parab took home bronze, silver and gold from the U15 8 Nations tournament in Ludinghausen, Germany.
The youngster prevailed in an all-English women’s singles final against Yashica Racharla, winning 21-16 21-7 in her second final of the day.
Earlier, Parab and partner Aahna Bhatia took silver in the women’s doubles, defeated 21-17 21-7 by Danish pairing Sophia Loudrup and Mille Sorensen in the masterpiece without losing a game in their run to the final.
And in the Team Tournament, England clinched bronze outright after beating the host nation 8-1.
Following a 6-3 loss to France, the young England midfielders swept the Netherlands and Switzerland 9-0 to finish second in Group A.
Elsewhere, the men’s doubles duo Kalyan Manoj and Sajan Senthuran reached the quarter-finals, as did Joel Joby and Siddhanth Shirol, before both fell to Danish opposition.
Chong and Harrison at the epic Italian Junior Open
Dillon Chong reached the round of 32 at the Italian Junior Open in Milan in late February, beating Romanian Vlad Dehelean 21-8 21-8.
The Englishman would eventually succeed Swiss midfielder Loris Dietrich 21-19 21-12, and Chong also took part in the men’s doubles event with Andrew Harrison.
Their 52-minute round of 32 was eventually won by their French opponents, but Axel Bastide and Matys Duru were pressured to the finish, in a dramatic 21-17 21-23 19-21 thriller.
Midterm training camp gives youngsters insight into next steps
The mid-term break in mid-February proved to be an excellent opportunity for England’s up-and-coming badminton stars to train alongside seasoned professionals.
The Under-17 national team visited the National Badminton Center in Milton Keynes before the Under-19s arrived in the second half of the week.
England badminton coach Kat Hurrell said it was a brilliant opportunity for age grade shuttlecocks to integrate into the senior team and learn key lessons that will prove invaluable as they take the next step in their careers.
Hurrell said: “It’s great for our young players to test themselves against our established senior teams, and it’s also been great for our slightly older players to share some of their knowledge with the youngsters, knowing they’ve only been there for a while. time”. few years ago.
“We had a good mix of players and coaches and it’s been really good for the players to get a lot of input from a great team of coaches from across the country.”
YAE Selection Event
Find out more about the eight U11 players selected for the YONEX All England friendly match, as well as the Nottinghamshire U17 Gold and Kent U13 Gold events, in the February national roundup.
