Celebrating Young Scottish Talent: Brooke Stalker
Young Scottish talent, Brooke Stalker came away with a silver medal at the Swedish Youth Games in the Women’s Doubles U17s and Bronze in the Mixed Doubles U17.
The 2022 Swedish Youth Games is part of the Badminton Europe circuit and took place in Malmö from November 17-20.
We caught up with Brooke to get an insight into what it’s like to compete in Europe, her journey to the Swedish Youth Games and what’s next.
Brooke has competed in European junior competitions from the age of ten where she won the Belgium Olve YOT U13 singles (her first European win).
Brooke tells us the attraction of playing in European competitions which is to challenge herself against some of the top junior players to gain exposure to a higher level of competition, she says “it’s a great opportunity to see where your level is currently at”.
“I just love to compete on a European stage and gain as much experience as I can for a 16-year-old, the experience I gain will help me to take the next steps forward in my badminton career”.
Brooke was unseeded in the Swedish Youth Games competition in the ladies doubles but seeded 7 in Mixed Doubles – Her partners for the competition were Lila Dundas (ENG) and Dillon Chong (ENG).
Brooke achieved a silver medal in ladies doubles and a bronze medal in the mixed. During the competition Brooke had some big wins beating several seeded couples from France, Germany, Sweden and England along the way.
Brooke says: “Playing in Europe is a completely different experience than playing in Scotland. Firstly, it’s tough to even win a first-round match depending on your draw. The arenas are larger than in Scotland, so you experience different playing conditions. The style of the European players is different, so you have to learn to adapt much quicker in order to compete with them”.
Continuing her busy training and tournament schedule, Brooke is competing in in the Welsh Open next week and tells us she is very much looking forward to gaining more experience.
Congratulations Brooke and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for you!