Started badminton this year. Badminton at this level, revolves around school. School clubs, representing the school etc. I just began to enjoy the sport when lockdown hit 🙁

My badminton coach – Vivian Gillard, put me into the county training squad this year, slowly going into the system. I was shit, not confident and the monthly county sessions gave me pressure, since everyone was so much better.

I also got a badminton England account this year: https://be.tournamentsoftware.com/player-profile/EA05DED4-A2D9-4AF8-8928-711B8397F526

2022 was the year where I saw the greatest improvement. I attended a bunch of different training centres and badminton competitions

In February, I competed in the Southend Junior 2* tournament and won doubles

I managed to represent Essex in the shires league against Norfolk. I played my first county match, it was worthwhile despite losing badly and travelling four hours to get there… It was worthwhile I guess.

The year 10 summer was free. I had plenty of spare time and no exam or uni pressure. Whilst working in a library, I also went to a badminton summer camp in Walthamstow organised by Eddie Chow. The 2 weeks at the summer camp was a great time, I met a lot of interesting people. After the summer camp I really got into the system and saw large improvements to my badminton skills.

I still reminisce the train journeys from Walthamstow, casually walking towards the setting summer’s sun with the sky painted in a fantastic tapestry of orangy hues, casting a long shadow behind us…

After school started I still went to the training camp every Thursday in preparation for the Essex restricted. I remember coming out of the training camp at 9pm, pitch black, walking the streets of North London…

Four weeks later, the essex restricted happened. Eddie had high hopes for me, but i didn’t do that well lmao, it does take a while to get used to new courts and new environment.

In October, dad drove me to Suffolk for a U17 Bronze. 

In November, I applied to a local frith tournament, technically I wasn’t allowed to enter since I was a county player, but I still managed to enter, with a handicap of -4. I still won easily, singles and doubles. This was definitely a massive confidence booster.

During this time, I also went to OPBC. Travelling at night through the streets of East London, snow frost, definitely a memorable period. A period of personal growth as well. It opened my eyes seeing the standard of those professional badminton players, in the best badminton club in the East of England region.

In December, I went to Chelmsford 2* tournament. I was nervous, because being a county player, it would be shameful if I didn’t win… I won! Singles and doubles, rather easily was well. The best takeaway was obviously the 2 gold medals, but also meeting a lot of cool people. This was defo another massive ego booster, and I think I would be happy if I stopped playing badminton seriously anymore.

Went to a U17 bronze tournament in January.

With the rising pressure of GCSEs, I played badminton less often and less competitively. Attending less county training sessions and competitions. 

During the summer, I played badminton in Hainan. I went to summer camps and clubs, and friend meeting groups. I was surprised to see that the chinese standards aren’t actually that good. I guess students my age are too busy studying for Gaokao to play badminton. This was also one of the best times of my life, I went to many different clubs in Hainan, mainly in Haikou and met so many interesting people. I met people like (HuangYan, HuangSiYuan, LiuYan, WengXiaoYang…) I realised the future of badminton for me, which is simply enjoying the true essence of it, being healthy and socialising with people. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, badminton don’t necessarily have to be so competitive and serious. 

In september, I attended the 2023 Essex Junior Restricted tournament. There was a clear difference in attitude between 2023 and last year. Last year, following Eddie’s summer camp, I prepared for it, including cross country runs, specialised training routines and analysing matchplay. These were useful and saw large improvements to my game, however, I still performed badly last year, partly due to pressure and partly due to fatigue from U16 and U18 BS, BD and XD. This year I was very calm, I attended the competition purely due to the fun and keeping in touch with people I knew. In singles I managed to win every game in the group stages, being first in my group, I came through to the knockout stages!
However, during the quarterfinal game, I then lost to James Kannathasan (15-12 and 15-8). however, I am still content with this result and far exceeded my expectations. 

In December, I attended another U17 Bronze session held in my home county – Essex. I applied to singles, level doubles and mixed doubles. I played the best ever games I had ever played. 
I feel like I am someone who takes forever to get warmed up, so playing without much warm up time wasn’t ideal for me. The first match was a struggle, despite the eventual win. Starting of I was struggling to hit shots accurately. But then towards the second half of the first game, I gradually got into the zone. I played the 4th seed player in my second singles game. There was got to be around 30 people spectating, including the Essex county coaches. I played the best game I had ever played, every shot was going exactly where I wanted it to go. And my movement was incredibly smooth. I eventually won 22-20. Being the winner of my group stages, I came through to the knockout stages. In the Quarterfinals, I played well, but the opponent was better, I lost 14-21. Yet I was very satisfied with the performance. 

In doubles, I was too tired after the singles matches, so me and my partner only won two games out of four in the group stages. Which was slightly of an underperformance since we were in a relatively easier group. However, given the circumstances, the result was more or less expected.

In mixed doubles, it was the first time I had played together with my partner. However, we clicked as partners straight away. My mixed partner controlled the next very well and we were very focused, playing strategically throughout. We managed to win two games out of four despite being in a group with two seeded pairs, the result was much better than expected. The two matches that we lost were close and we could have won if we had more practice together. It was a great experience, and I am looking forward to playing more tournaments together in the future.