Van Leeuwen ready to build on success after Irish Open victory
Estelle van Leeuwen is ready to battle for the title of British number one after a string of successes on the badminton court.
The 20-year-old roared to Irish Open success alongside mixed doubles partner Callum Hemming in November, jumping off the back a victorious run at the Dutch Open last month.
Following the retirement of experienced mixed doubles partners Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith, Van Leeuwen and Hemming have dreams of now taking the British number one spot for themselves.
“It’s definitely exciting and something for us to work towards,” she said. “We’re staying focussed on each tournament and not getting too ahead but it’s nice to know that we’re there and have the level to do it.”
Irish Open success brought a wave of confidence to the English pair, beating Danish rivals Rasmus Espersen and Amalie Cecilie Kudsk 19-21 21-18 21-14 in Dublin.
🥇🥈 Gold and Silver at the Irish Open 👏🔥
Great performances from Estelle, Callum and Chloe in the XD and WD finals🔥
Also two 🥉 medals for Ethan and Callum and Sam and Oliver in the MD 💪#TeamEngland pic.twitter.com/229wvevugl
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) November 18, 2024
And Van Leeuwen was thrilled to see their training finally come together after a slow start to the season.
“It feels really good, we’ve been in a lot of finals and semi-finals over the past few years so it was really nice to solidify wins in the last two tournaments we’ve played and bring a consistent level to our playing,” she said.
“We didn’t start off the season too great so it’s been great to show our levels and have the hard work pay off.
“It all comes from confidence, we both know that we have the level it just depends on us putting it together.”
The pair had cruised through the earlier rounds to reach the final in Dublin and set up a thrilling clash with Espersen and Kudsk.
It was a re-match of the semi-final of last year’s competition, with the pair from Denmark coming out on top that time round.
But with a newfound confidence behind them, nothing could not stop Van Leeuwen and Hemming as they battled back from a game down to force a decider and take the title.
“We put down some convincing wins and each match were getting a bit better,” said Van Leeuwen.
“We’ve played that pair quite a few times, won a few and lost a few, but we didn’t focus on getting revenge.
“We didn’t start our best in the match but towards the end of the first set we managed to find out rhythm.
“Callum is really motivated on court. Every point he says ‘one more’ and it’s helpful for him to have such a positive mindset.”
With two titles this season and the opportunity to now become the top mixed doubles pairing in Britain, Van Leeuwen is excited to see what her future holds as she looks toward building more experience on the court.
“We have some more high level tournaments in Asia coming up which is good try and gain some more experience and put in solid performances,” she said.
“Experience is something we’re really focussing on in the next six months. We trust our level.”
