Butler and Jones make FS final in France as Kayan triumphs
6 July, 2024
Oliver Butler and Sam Jones secured a historic silver medal at the VICTOR Future Series Nouvelle-Aquitaine 2024 following an impressive display to get to the final.
The men’s doubles pair were denied gold and the title by Aymeric Tores and Dyon Van Wijlick after battling through three rounds to make the final two in the south of France.
But, following an encouraging performance at the tournament in only its third year, the pairing won England’s first-ever men’s doubles medal at the event.
In a three-game thriller, Butler and Jones stormed to take the first game before their opponents fought back to win 11-21 21-17 22-20 in 47 minutes.
The promising duo dismantled France’s Louis Ducrot and Quentin Ronget 21-11 21-16 in the semi-final after pushing past fellow Englishmen Feng Hong and Wong Yan Kit in two games, 21-16 21-11.
France’s Eloi Adam and Léo Rossi claimed the title last year and Butler and Jones came within inches of their own feat.
Elsewhere, Cholan Kayan emerged victorious in the men’s singles; the fourth seed downed seventh seed Yohan Barbieri in his final.
In the first round, Kayan got past Scotland’s Callum Smith in three games after his opponent levelled things in the second game and forced the English talent to hit back in the decider to win 21-18 21-17 21-17.
From there, Kayan cruised through to the final in three straight games wins to come up against the Frenchman in the final before pushing his way to an emphatic 21-8 21-12 win.
Chloe Dennis and Natasha Lado also pushed their way to the women’s doubles final before being pipped to the title by Meerte Loos and Kelly van Buiten in three games, losing 17-21 21-9 21-5.
Lado was back again for mixed doubles alongside Harry Goode but the pair were denied a spot in the showpiece by Loos and Timo Stoffelen who won 21-14 22-20 21-14.
In women’s singles, Freya Redfearn made it as far as the semi-finals before being knocked out by Petra Maixnerova 21-19 21-18.
Image: BadmintonPhoto
