Glasgow International Youth 2019

The Glasgow International Youth Championships reached a successful conclusion on Sunday 19th May with an action-packed day of badminton at the National Badminton Academy at Scotstoun.

All of the players who made it through to Finals Day were supported by a large and very vocal crowd, creating a tremendous atmosphere and a fitting end to the seventh edition of Britain’s only U13 / U15 international tournament.

Team Event (Friday)

The team event gave the players the opportunity to get used to the conditions in two of the four venues being used for this year’s championships. In the U13 age group England’s Fire Dragons roared their way to victory in the 1st place play-off against the players from the Webber School of Badminton, running out comfortable 3-0 winners.

Vying for 3rd and 4th places were Germany’s BC Beuel who put in a commanding display to subdue the Ireland squad 4-1 (despite the incredible noise made by the Irish contingent supporting their teammates). England’s MKBA Young Guns then dashed Scottish hopes by the same score, subduing Scotland’s Eagles, despite the home support, to claim 5th place.

The fourth-placed teams vying for 7th and 8th spot were Scotland’s Ospreys and Cypriot team Arion. Poised at 2-1, the boys doubles pulled through with the decisive win to earn a 3-1 victory for the Scottish team, many of whom are young enough to enter next year’s championships, so we hope to see them back.

In the U15 event top spot was contested between English sides MKBA Thunder and Ardent. The standard of play was high and despite two close three set matches, MKBA Thunder prevailed to win 3-0 on the day.

Battling it out for 4th and 5th spots were BS Beuel and a combined Webber & India team. The boys fared well for the Webber & India team winning both their singles and doubles but the German girls proved too strong, levelling the tie at 2-2. It came down to the mixed doubles with England’s Ethan Hosken and Shiami Thayaparan winning 21-9, 21-19 against Germany’s Jolina Abel and Phillip Irsen.

The fight for 7th and 8th came down to an International Select team featuring four Scottish players and the LAF team from England. Another close fought tie was decided by the mixed doubles with the English pair proving too strong in the end.

 

Individual Event (Saturday & Sunday)

The staging of this year’s event proved such an appealing draw to the 204 participants that organisers had to arrange play at four separate venues to accommodate all of the scheduled matches. Despite the logistical problems involved in keeping any tournament running smoothly, the team worked tirelessly to ensure that players and coaches alike were shuttled from their hotel to each venue in plenty of time and with the minimum of fuss.

There was some tremendous play throughout the Saturday as the field was slowly whittled down to just 33 players spread across both age groups. Some standout performances to reach the Semi Finals in all three events came from India’s Lakshay Sharma, Holland’s Chloë Li, England’s Oliver Butler, Lucy Brierley, Abigail Hong and Daniel Kemp, as well as Northern Ireland’s Matthew Cheung.

No single player managed to win all three events in either age group but special mention should go Daniel Kemp and Lucy Brierley who teamed up to win the U13 Mixed Doubles in the last event of the day after coming through their respective level doubles finals successfully. With six of the ten finals contested on the day being won by English players, it was a worthwhile trip north of the border.

Feedback was positive throughout this year’s championships with a greater social media presence that saw several players and coaches provide interviews which quickly made their way to the event’s Facebook page, along with a number of clips showcasing the talent on display throughout the weekend.

With the dates already announced for the eighth edition of the Glasgow International Youth Championships and European ranking points up for grabs in the U15 age category, Glasgow is looking forward to welcoming you back in 2020!

Individual results can be found here

Team results can be found here

Visit the Glasgow International Youth Facebook page for a full round up, images interviews and results

Glasgow and North Strathclyde Group would like to thank the following partners and sponsors for their continued support of the Glasgow International Youth:

Glasgow Sport                          Glasgow School of Sport
Sports Council for Glasgow    Yonex UK
BADMINTONscotland              Gannon Sports
Not Just Trophies                      Go Glasgow Hotel

Individual Stats

Players  204
Matches played 464
Games played 983
Points  32640
Minutes played 10346
Average match 22 minutes 54 seconds

Report by Nikki Muir