Lowri Hart Wins National Badminton Titles At Two Age Levels

Lowri Hart enjoyed success during the Yonex Welsh Junior Badminton Championships, winning titles at under-15 and under-17 levels.

Hart won singles, doubles and mixed in the younger events, playing alongside Jasmine Owen and Daniel Clarke respectively to win the doubles events.

Hart continued to play at a high level on the second day of the championships, winning singles and mixed in the under-17 section.

Both seeds reached the final of the girls singles, despite Abi Cottrill having a bit of a scare in her semi-final against Saffron Morris.

Hart continued to perform at a high level and didn’t drop a single set throughout the entire tournament in any of her events and lifted the trophy once more.

The mixed doubles final was an exciting match featuring Michael Pritchard and Lowri Hart against Oliver Stansfield and Abi Cottrill. Despite being the younger pair Pritchard and Hart worked well together and won 21-17, 21-19, giving Michael his first title of the day and Lowri a clean sweep across all events which she had entered.

Oliver Stansfield managed to regroup overnight and returned to the hall for the under-17 events with determination.

Morgan Harding had a three-set battle in his opening match against Michael Pritchard followed by a match lasting 52 minutes against Dafydd Price.

The hard work of Price paid off as he won the game 21-15 in the third. However, the final was one step too far as Stansfield dominated the game and won 21-15, 21-8.

Four under-15 boys played up in the under-17 doubles, but, despite some good performances, they couldn’t beat their older opponents.

Dafydd Price and Michael Pritchard are a new pairing, while Oliver Stansfield and Morgan Harding’s experience together paid off as they won all of their matches in straight sets to win the title.

In the under-13 boys singles Matthew Swash took out second seed Harper Leigh in a tight two set match with plenty of lengthy rallies. He then faced Matthew Logan in the final and while they had a marathon three-set match in Welshpool Junior Open earlier this season, Logan’s ambition for a national title was clear to see from the start.

Logan fought hard and won in two sets, 21-11, 21-7.

The girls singles was a straight final between friends Saffron Morris and Maisie Kite, who started strongly. Saffron, though, pushed ahead and won another title 21-8, 21-4.

The boys doubles was the most competitive group of all with most matches decided in three sets.

Llwyd Crump and Matthew Swash won the boys doubles in a nerve-wracking final, beating Harper Leigh and Matthew Logan and 21-19, 20-22, 21-19.

Owen Porter and Maisie Kite took on brother and sister Zachary Morris and Saffron Morris in the mixed doubles. Despite being only seven-years-old, Zachary fought hard and gave the match his all alongside his sister.

It wasn’t quite enough with Porter and Kite winning 22-20, 21-17.

Badminton Wales performance manager and national coach Matthew Hughes said: “The National Championships provide an excellent opportunity to view our junior players from across the country competing at the highest level in Wales.

“There were some great performances with a lot of matches going to three sets. I look forward to seeing the players continue their good form in the upcoming Junior Quadrangular, Junior Olve Tournament and Glasgow Youth International.”