Badminton – Elliot at the double

Dec 12 2008 by Paul Wheelock, Flintshire Chronicle

PLAYERS from across Cheshire, Shropshire, Lancashire and South Wales descended on the Flint Pavilion for the North East Wales Junior Shuttle Series.

And Flintshire’s finest, led by the excellent Elliot Wheeler, could be proud of their performances in the face of such strong opposition.

Flint’s Wheeler, continuing to show improved stroke play and movement, won the Under 13s boys singles after just getting the better of Conwy’s Connor Hughes 9-15 18-16, 15-12, but only after he survived match points in the second game.

Wheeler, along with Mold’s Paul Hardman, also claimed the doubles title as they fought back to beat Cheshire duo Connor Pritchard and Jack Cooke 12-15 15-8 15-12.

Connah’s Quay’s Jessica Faulkner lost the girls singles showpiece to Shropshire’s Kirsty Mudell 15-8 15-4 after knocking-out Mold’s Sophie Ellis 15-8 15-6.

Faulkner, along with Ellis, also tasted doubles decider heartbreak to Mudell and Shropshire team-mate Charlie Guest 15-14 15-11.

There was U17s boys singles joy for Mold’s Jonathan Savory as, using his backhand drive serve to great effect, he edged a fast-paced, hard-hitting and exhausting clash with Cheshire’s Matthew Riley 21-18 16-21 21-19.

Savory and Flint’s Adam Spencer, 21-15 to Gwent’s Sam O’Callaghan and Evan Hughes, and Connah’s Quay’s Matthew Burrows and Flint’s Daniel Hardman, 21-9 to Riley and Cheshire team-mate Michael Phillips, were defeated in the doubles semi-finals.

The last four was as far as Connah’s Quay pair Danielle Oates and Danielle Schoneveld got in the girls singles, with the former going down 15-9 18-16 to Cheshire’s Claire Simeonides and the latter 15-7 15-6 to Shropshire’s Rachel Vickers.

Oates and Schoneveld were beaten 15-7 15-6 by Vickers and Simeonides in the doubles final, a fate that also befell Oates and Savory in the mixed doubles to Vickers and Phillips.

Buckley’s Callum Sant won a titanic battle with Deeside’s Scott Oates 10-15 15-9 17-5 to make it through to the U11s boys singles showpiece, which he lost 21-10 21-13 to Cheshire’s Jack Wild, who swept aside Deeside’s Martin Smith-Aldous 15-7 15-4.

Smith-Aldous and Oates won the doubles after just overcoming Sant and Llanferres’ Nick Prtak 21-19.

Buckley’s Cerys Brackenbury was defeated 15-12 15-10 by Shropshire’s Vicky Rawlings in the girls semis, but, along with Mold’s Tonicha Font, won the doubles after shading Cheshire’s Bethany Newis and Ruth O’Connor 21-19.

Matthew Vacher, who could play in the U13s age group, had a great run in the U15s boys singles.

He beat Conwy’s Daffyd Evans 15-9 15-10 and Cheshire’s Lucas Roberts 15-9 15-5 before losing at the last to Lancashire’s Stuart Holden 21-14 21-13.

Vacher, along with Evans, also tasted defeat in the doubles decider, 21-15 21-19 to Holden and Shropshire’s Stefan Hayley, who accounted for Mold’s Callum Colquhoun and Ben Hughes 15-7 15-9 in the previous round.

There were girls singles last-four reverses for Flint’s Victoria Wheeler, 15-6 15-7 to Simeonides, and Llanferres’ Eli Clough, 15-12 14-16 15-13 to Cheshire’s Amy Heron.

Prestatyn’s Victoria and Sophie Wilson could not stop Heron and Simeonides from winning the doubles 15-3 15-6, but Connah’s Quay’s Ellen Liddle teamed up with Holden to take the mixed doubles decider against Cheshire’s Simeonides and Jamie Wild 21-8.