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Johnnie Torjussen clinched a third successive English title as the best shuttlers in the country took their chance to impress at the National Badminton Championships in Nottingham.

Despite a challenging start to the semi-final, edging the opening game 24-22, the 23-year-old eased into the final with victory over Nadeem Dalvi.

He got a jump on Cholan Kayan in a repeat of last year’s final, winning the first 21-13, but his rival came back and won the second 21-19 to force a decider.

Torjussen won it 21-12 to wrap up a pleasing victory just inside the hour mark.

“It’s great for me,” said Torjussen. “It’s carrying on the momentum from last year and playing Cholan again, I knew I needed to match that level. Three in a row is really good for me.

“In the second game, I was feeling fine at 11-3 but then took my foot off the gas and wasn’t hitting my attacking shots as I normally do.

“I’m glad that I could stay composed in the third game and come out quickly. I’ve got lots of tournaments coming up, I just wanted to build on my ranking ahead of Olympic qualifying.”

Unseeded Kirby Ngan won’t forget this weekend in a hurry after being crowned English champion in women’s singles.

Three times a semi-finalist in the discipline, this was Ngan’s year and she overwhelmed Freya Patel-Redfearn 21-10 21-5 in a consummate final performance.

Ngan received a bye in the second round and came through a tricky semi-final against seeded Alexandra Oprisan on the road to victory.

Mixed doubles honours went to Jenny Moore and Greg Mairs, who didn’t drop a game en route to overall victory.

Rory Easton and Jess Pugh got past seeded opponents Steven Stallwood and Hope Warner to reach Sunday’s final.

When they got there, they gave Mairs and Moore a scare in the opening game but the experienced pairing came through it 21-19 and then dominated the second 21-10.

Having reformed their partnership for the first time since 2016, Chloe Birch and Jenny Wallwork walked away with women’s doubles honours.

The Yorkshire duo eased past Magda-Sabrina Lozniceriu and Devon Minnis to set up a final meeting with seeded pair Annie Lado and Abbygael Harris.

Birch and Wallwork were rewarded for their tenacity by taking the first game 21-19 and were more comfortable in the second, running out 21-11 winners.

Wallwork was cheered to victory by her young son and daughter while this was Olympian Birch’s seventh national title across disciplines.

In the final game of the weekend in the East Midlands, Ben Lane and Sean Vendy showed their class to lift the men’s doubles trophy.

The world No.18 pairing were matched stride-for-stride by Alex Green and Brandon Yap in the first game, which they won 21-19, and turned on the style to take the second 21-11.

Lane said: “I think it’s very important to play the National Championships. Sean and I have always seen this as a very prestigious tournament.

“Going in as the top seeds, there is always pressure but that’s part of top-level sport. We both love the feeling of having pressure on us, we really feel it brings the best out of our game and love the challenge of being the pair to beat. It was great to come out with the win.”

Badminton England Performance Director, Morten Frost was thrilled to see so many young players competing in the Nationals. The nationals proved a great opportunity for many to demonstrate their skills and progress.

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