U17 Spanish Open: Round Up
On 2 February, a very excited and focussed contingent of young badminton players flew out to Benalmadena to compete in the Under 17 Spanish Open 2023.
Callum Jack, Fraser Banks and Lanna Campbell participated in this very popular event in Southern Spain from 3-5 February.
Lanna secured a place in all three events and the boys played in doubles and mixed.
Callum and Lanna won their first match in a thrilling three setter against Ukrainian pair Antamonov and Bielobrovchuk, pulling back a first set loss to win 15-21 21-16 23-21.
Lanna then put up a brave fight in the singles against Wulandoko of Germany who proved too tricky in a 15-21 and 10-22 defeat.
The boys then had to wait until 10PM to play their doubles and faced Germany again. Schmid and Schmitz proved tricky and although the first set was difficult the boys pulled back and played a close second set ultimately resulting in a 8-21 and 18-21 defeat.
Lanna also had a late ladies doubles match with her partner Hattie Herbert from England who fought valiantly against a strong home Spanish pair Noya and Prada 14-21 and 11-21.
Day two saw Fraser in mixed doubles with his partner Hattie Herbert from England facing last weekend’s Swedish mixed winners Kaschura and Nilges who put on an impressiver performance defeating Fraser and Hattie 13-21 and 9-21.
Callum and Lanna were on next in their second round of mixed doubles facing the second seeds Spanish pair Jimenez and Rodriguez. The first set was tough, the opposition showing the benefit of their experience. Our pair dug deep and worked hard together and in the second set were 11-6 up playing some fantastic badminton ultimately producing a very respectable score of 10-21 and 17-21.
This was Callum and Fraser’s first European tournament and Lanna’s second. Our players showed determination, skill and focus throughout the event and we are very proud of you all.