The Capital International Group Sponsored Under 17s Island Badminton Championships brought an excellent turnout at the weekend and a high standard of play across all five events. From the opening group games to the medal matches, there was a strong competitive atmosphere and several tight contests that showcased the depth of developing talent on the island.
The Open Singles saw four large groups in the opening round with 22 boys in the mix. With each match best of 3 to 15, the singles was the longest event with almost 5 hours of back to back games. Group A was topped by defending champion Lok Cheung, Group B was led by u15 champion Jet Woon, Group C saw Tom Clague top the group and Group D was won by Adi Malikireddy. This set up a semi final of Cheung v Malikireddy and Woon v Clague. A straight forward win in 2 games for Woon saw him reach the final stage while a much closer battle between Cheung and Malikireddy played out on the next court. It took a deciding game to separate the pair with Cheung overcoming Malikireddy in the 3rd end to meet Woon once again in another singles final. Clague and Malikireddy concluded their runs with well-earned joint bronze finishes. The deciding title match was a fantastic display from both players and again took a deciding game, Woon got a strong start taking the first game 15-11 with Cheung then fighting back to take the 2nd 15-12. With nothing to separate the two they went on to play the deciding game, with Woon emerging the victor 15-8 with blistering pace around the court and taking the under 17s Open Singles title.
The Girls Singles featured two large competitive groups, each producing clear leaders after strong early momentum. Group A was dominated by Kelly Cheung, who delivered five wins from five, not dropping a single game and conceding very few points across the round-robin stage. Group B was topped by Molly Bell, who also secured a clean sweep of wins to earn her place in the final. Sophie Clague and Erin Corlett, both of whom produced solid group-stage performances finished as joint bronze medallists with runner up spots in both groups. The final was a very close affair with both girls battling hard, Cheung started strong with a convincing 15-7 win in the first game but the 2nd saw Bell up the pace fighting back with a 15-13 win and forcing the tie into a 3rd game. It was neck and neck in the latter stages with Cheung just clinching it at the end 15-13 to take the girls u17 singles title.
The Open Doubles event brought some of the most exciting rallies of the weekend, with a strong field spread across three groups. Group A was topped by Adi Malikireddy & Charlie Kneale, who began their campaign with three straight wins. Wai Cheung & Elias Parry followed closely behind, showing good chemistry and determination to take second in the group and the first bronze medal. Group B went the way of Jet Woon & Ziyad Sulthan, who were composed and efficient throughout, Group C group leaders were Lok Cheung & Jacob Gibb who remained unbeaten and earnt their place in what turned out to be a thrilling semi final against Woon and Sulthan. Cheung and Gibb took the first game 15-12 before Woon and Sulthan turned up the attack and took both the 2nd and deciding games 15-10 and 15-11 to book their place in the final. Spectators were treated to another fantastic final that again went down to the wire. Malikireddy and Kneale got a good start winning the first game 15-12 before Woon and Sulthan retaliated with a crushing 15-8 second game win. A fast and furious 3rd game was held on a knife edge at 14 all before a spirited last rally went the way of Malikireddy and Kneale who took the open doubles title on the final point!
The Girls Doubles was played as a single round-robin, and it turned into one of the highlights of the weekend for quality and spirit. From the first round, Kelly Cheung & Molly Bell were the pair to beat. They settled quickly into rhythm and claimed five wins from five without dropping a game earning them the girls doubles title and gold medals, a second title of the day for Cheung. Sophie Clague & Lara Stewart also impressed, finishing second and taking the silver medals with four wins. A special mention went to Aamiya Cijesh & Abigail Kwan, who grew stronger with each round, recording three good victories, and to Sirin Sahesh & Emily Cregeen a new pairing who impressed in their tournament debut with 2 wins earning both pairs the bronze medals.
The Mixed Doubles event provided a fitting finale to the championships, with several closely matched pairs and plenty of tactical variety on display. Group A saw Kelly Cheung & Adi Malikireddy dominate from the outset, taking four wins from four in straight games. Sirin Sahesh & Lok Cheung followed with three wins earning them the runner up bronze medals.
In Group B, Molly Bell & Charlie Kneale were equally convincing, producing a perfect record of four victories. Erin & Jasper Corlett and Connie Creer & Wai Cheung shared a great battle for second place, their meeting one of the most entertaining of the round with the Corlett siblings coming from behind to win in three tight games taking the 2nd bronze medals.
The final saw Cheung & Malikireddy with combined poise secure the championship, closing both games strongly to seal victory over Bell & Kneale and crowning Kelly Cheung a triple champion and Adi Malikireddy a double champion in the u17s age group, well done to both!
Medals were kindly presented by Gavin Parry on behalf of our flagship sponsor Capital International Group.
The next tournament in the junior calendar will be the u13s on November 15th, another one not to miss!