Michael Haley, 15, has won the U16 Boys’ Singles and the U18 Boys’ Doubles in the Plymouth and District Junior Badminton ‘Ellis’ Tournament.
Held at the city’s Mayflower Centre, Michael faced a strong opponent in the singles final and lost the first game. However, he came back to win the second in a tightly-fought game, which saw some wonderful rallies. Both players exhibited some great badminton and Michael took the game 21-20 with a beautiful backhand drop shot. In the third game the score was neck and neck until Michael finally broke away and won the title with a score of 21-17.
He followed this win by taking the U18 Boys’ Doubles title with his partner Matt Elver. Because Matt is now too old for the U16s category, which they had won for the last two years, Michael had to play up a group and so was even more delighted when they won.
Michael has been playing badminton for about nine years and is a member of the school badminton team, which won the U19 Plymouth Schools’ League last term. He is also a member of the Victoria Badminton Club. As well as previously winning the doubles title at U16 level, Michael has also been the U14 Boys’ Singles champion.
Photograph: Michael (right) with his doubles partner Matt
