Junior Round Up February 1200

6 March 2024

Aahna Bhatia was the pick of England’s junior players in February, as she claimed women’s singles victory at the France U17 Open.

Fifth seed Bhatia beat top seed Lieke van Parys 21-13 21-14 in the final to round off a storming weekend of performances in some style.

Bhatia also defeated second seed Yuliia Fomina 22-20 21-12 in the quarter-final before getting the better of Lea Dauphinais 21-18 12-21 21-12 in the last four.

That was the only game she dropped all tournament on her way to an impressive title in Aire-sur-la-Lys.

There was also a strong showing for Kalyan Manoj in the men’s singles, as he reached the final before losing to Lenny Hubert.


Unseeded Manoj knocked out ninth seed Thomas Gintz in the round of 64, powering to a 21-7 21-11 victory before getting past Alex Weissgerber, Rayan Benaissa, and Maxance Liraud to set up a semi-final with Mady Sow.

The Frenchman took the opening game before Manoj bounced back to win 16-21 21-19 21-13.

But Manoj was unable to clinch victory in the final, as 15th seed Hubert won 21-13 21-12.

Elsewhere in the men’s singles, Sajan Senthuran exited in the round of 32, losing 21-12 16-21 21-13 to Soren Marion Gothsener.

The women’s singles also saw a run to the round of 16 for Lilly Wood, who eased through her opening two matches before defeat to eighth seed Manon Heitzmann 21-13 21-8.

Heitzmann also knocked out Mili Patel 21-15 21-19 in the round of 32, while Anoushka Shetty lost to Noémie Caura 21-19 21-12 in the round of 64.


Patel fared better in the women’s doubles, as she teamed up with Anna Stewart to reach the semi-final.

The pair beat third seeds Hiu Ching Chloe Tsai and Anissa Wongsodimedjo 21-15 21-11 in the round of 16 and also got past Nina Lourghi and Lyzea Belle Manceau 21-17 21-12 before losing to Heitzmann and Mathilde Pinan 21-7 21-16.

Wood and Shetty reached the round of 16, where they lost 21-17 21-14 to Camille Delettre and Zoe Martin-Mouchain.

Manoj was also in men’s doubles action, where he reached the round of 16 with George Clare.

The pair beat Nathanael Barrier and Victor Le Roux 21-15 21-18 before losing a thriller to top seeds Rayan Benaissa and Arush Ravikumar 23-21 14-21 21-18.

Clare teamed up with Wood in the mixed doubles, with the duo exiting in the round of 32 to Valentin Roulleau and Lily Rose Triolier 14-21 21-18 21-11.


The mixed doubles also saw Bhatia and Senthuran reach the round of 16, where they were beaten 18-21 21-15 21-17 by Pinna and Nathanael Cossac.

There was further English action in the YONEX Dutch Junior International, where Lucy Brierley and Matilda Franklin reached the round of 32 in the women’s doubles.

Brierley and Franklin got past home pair Stephanie Snel and Tejaswini Vengatesh before falling to Korea’s Kim Bo Hye and Kwak Seung Min 21-14 21-11.

Brierley also reached the last 32 in the mixed doubles alongside Benjamin Horseman, where they lost 21-15 21-8 to Chen Jun Ting and Qin Shi Yang after battling through two three-games matches to reach that stage.

James Song and Matilda Franklin exited in the round of 64, going out 21-10 21-13 to Japan’s Yuto Nakashizu and Aya Tamaki.

Horseman was in men’s doubles action alongside Jia Bin Lee, with the pair getting to the round of 16 before losing to Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu 21-9 21-9.

Further women’s doubles action saw Sofie Chong team up with Germany’s Leonie Wronna to reach the round of 32 before losing to eighth seeds Agathe Cuevas and Kathell Desmots 21-16 21-11.

In the men’s singles, Ibrahim Kulkarni fell in the round of 64, losing 21-19 21-17 to 11th seed Lee Tao Ong, while James Song lost 21-11 21-16 to Chua Min Han in the round of 128.

Oliver Nicolson reached the round of 32 after wins over Viktor Patteet and Jan Ebel before losing 21-11 21-15 to Luis Pongratz.

The Spanish U17 Open also saw English representation through Anish Nair, who made it to the quarter-finals.

Nair eased through his opening two rounds and got past seventh seed Petr Martinec 21-19 21-14 to set up a quarter-final clash with second seed Yaidel Gil, who edged out a 21-14 17-21 21-13 victory.

Inaugural EJPP Collaboration Days (U11-U15)

The England Junior Performance Programme (EJPP) ran the inaugural set of Collaboration Day training camps.

The key aim of the camps was to promote collaboration between the top-performing players and their personal coaches from across the domestic circuit.

The top eight players in U11 and U13 singles were involved alongside the top six Under 15 singles players.

Tailored training sessions were set-up to look at addressing specific development areas identified following observations across the domestic tournaments and Age Group National Championships.

Personal coaches were also introduced to the Player Characteristic Model and participated in a workshop on areas Badminton England aims to promote across the junior landscape, including performance behaviours and off-court physical training.The Collaboration Days provided valuable insight into player-coach dynamics and highlighting what Badminton England can do to better support players and coaches across the network.


The next collaboration days will be hosted at the EIS Sheffield in April and May.

EJPP Camp

The National Badminton Centre hosted an EJPP Camp between 23-25 February.

National Pathway Coach Kat Hurrell led the Camp alongside Alex Lane and Atu Sagita, the U17 and U19 Age Group coaches and saw them work on a variety of skills, physical testing and match play.

Singles players were coached on a variety of skills and themes including decision-making under pressure and skill below the tape while the girls’ singles players took part in video analysis of world-class players.

The players were assigned a player with a similar style to themselves and were asked to note down a variety of characteristics.

The men’s doubles players worked on their play in the mid-court as well as footwork and eliminating unnecessary errors.

Women’s doubles pairs developed their longer rally skills and being able to switch between building and attacking with control.

EJPP Coach Network and Update Day

During the camp, the EJPP Team joined forces with the Coach Education team to provide an update on the Junior Programme and facilitate discussions among network coaches.

Over 20 coaches attended the day with Kathryn Canham, S&C coach delivering a strength and conditioning workshop.

Recent posts

Back to news