Scotland’s top young stars invited to compete in Japan
Badminton Scotland were privileged to be invited for the 2nd time to the Shonai U16 International Badminton Invitational in Japan with Alfie Martin and Jaagruti Mannem representing Scotland in this prestigious event.
The athletes were away from Wednesday 26 June- Tuesday2 July.
The tournament itself was singles only and had the top male and top female athletes at the U16 age group from each of the invited countries. These countries included the Japan National Team, the Japan Regional team, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, France and Spain.
Lena Robertson (Lead National Pathway Coach West), was the coach on the trip, supporting Alfie and Jaagruti in their games.
Speaking after the event, Robertson was pleased with both of their performances:
“Both Alfie and Jaagruti done themselves proud in Japan, with Alfie being able to take both Australian and Indonesian opposition to 3 sets, whilst beating a player from New Zealand. This was also the highest level I have seen Jaagruti play, particularly against the Japanese opposition where there were some excellent rallies.
I believe both players have come away from this event with a new perspective on the level they want to achieve, as well as learning some invaluable lessons on dealing with the humidity, the importance of nutrition and the level of physical fitness that needs to be achieved.”
The trio were then able to visit some sights in Tokyo after the competition had came to a close, including going up Tokyo Tower and spending the day going round Tokyo on the tourist buses.
This was an incredible experience for all involved adding value into the wider performance pathway to continue pushing a higher level of junior badminton in Scotland.
Alfie and Jaagruti will also travel to Poland in September to compete in the U15 European Junior Championships alongside Charlie Junnor and Shreya Vargheese, where they will aim to capitalise on their learnings.
To see the results in full click the following link: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=3cc284f3-8f96-4d34-b5f5-0ab2ebf342e2