BADMINTON aces Jacob Booth and Emily Crowther were worthy winners at the Keighley Kobras tournament.
In the event for Under 19s, the Huddersfield pair,17-year-old Booth and 16-year-old Crowther, won all but one of their six matches against county-level opponents, playing off a handicap of just six.
The Huddersfield Jays duo, who are among a group coached by Hayley Smith at Huddersfield Sports Centre, dropped just one point in winning through, even though all the games were close.
Crowther’s sister Amy, paired with Callum McLoughlin, went to the quarter-finals of the Under 14 section but, due to confusion, they were forced to concede through inadvertently failing to complete all their matches.
McLoughlin played in the singles and won two of the four games he played.
The recent pairing of all these players, after only two weeks playing together, is hopefully an indication of things to come.
They train at the Sports Centre on Mondays and with the Jays on Fridays.
Kirklees Active Leisure are supporting badminton in this area, which already has talented and gifted groups and junior clubs planned for the future.
Adults are being invited participate in the ‘no strings’ session on Wednesday evenings, starting on August 4.
An open day is planned for September with the whole event dedicated to badminton.
New and existing players will be invited to play games, improve with coach-led drills and learn more about the pathways open to them.
Top badminton players will be giving talks to inspire players, and the aim is to raise the profile of the sport.
