U19 Nationals 2011

U19 Nationals 'double joy' for Milne and Nottingham

Yorkshire’s Sarah Milne and Matthew Nottingham of Cheshire both successfully retained the U19 Nationals titles they won in 2010 - and then returned to court to collect further titles at the 2011 English National U19 Championships at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes.

Milne successfully saw off Hertfordshire’s Helena Lewczynska in the Semi Final to set up a repeat of last year’s Womens Singles final against Panuga Riou [Hampshire] and the Leeds star was, once again, simply too strong for her opponent, winning 21-11, 21-14 to defend her title.
Riou had earlier needed all her experience to defeat the unseeded surprise package of Chloe Birch, who had knocked out 4th seed (and her doubles partner) Georgina Bland to reach the last 4.
However Milne was not finished there. The Leeds star then paired up with Jessica Fletcher to add the Women’s Doubles title, after a 21-14, 21-14 victory over promising pairing of Sophie Brown and Holly Smith.
The defeated finalists had produced the one notable shock of the event - downing top seeds Helena Lewczynska and Hayley Rogers in the Semi Finals.
Yet Milne was not the only player to do ‘the double’ over the weekend - Matthew Nottingham tasted success in both the Mens and Mixed Doubles disciplines.
Nottingham joined Chris Coles on court as top seeds in the Mens Doubles and did not disappoint, taking the title in a tough final against Harley Towler and Alex Fowler.
Neither partnership had dropped a game going into the final and spectators were treated to some long rallies as the pairs battled it out for the title with Nottingham and Coles eventually emerging victorious at 21-19, 21-16.
Nottingham’s ‘double in the doubles’ was completed when he teamed up with partner Helena Lewczynska in the Mixed Doubles event.
The partnership had fallen at the Semi Final stage at last year’s competition but went one better this time around, defeating 3rd seeds, Harley Towler and Emily Westwood 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 to edge a tense final.
In the Men’s Singles event, revenge was order of the day when Toby Penty survived a tough last 4 clash with Chris Coles to set up a Finals Day date with 2010 winner Josh Green.
Green had beaten Penty in the semi final stage on his way to victory at last year Championships but it was the man from Surrey who took the honours this time around.
Top seed Penty edged a close opening game 22-20 then took control in the second game, wrapping up victory with a 21-14 win.Speaking of the Championships, Martin Andrew, BADMINTON England’s Junior Performance Head Coach said “The U19 Nationals are always a pressured environment for the top players so it was good to see many of them respond to the difficult situations and win titles. Other players also showed that they can perform at a good level and challenge the more established players.”
 
Andrew added “The current U19 age group are very competitive and are pushed hard by some of the younger players which is very encouraging to see for the future.”
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For a full list of results, click HERE  and for photos please, click HERE