30 November 2024
England suffered a heart-breaking 3-2 loss to miss out on the knockout stages of 2024 European Junior Team Championships.
The team ended the tournament in Ibiza with two wins in Group 6 but an opening defeat to the Netherlands was enough to deny them top spot and with it a place in the last eight.
Jia Bin Lee and Lucy Dodd had battled to get the team off to the best possible start against the Netherlands with a comeback win in the mixed doubles before James Song followed suit in straight games in the men’s singles.
Rajvi Parab was then on the wrong side of a decider in the women’s singles before Lee and Benjamin Horseman lost out 22-20 in the second game of their men’s doubles clash against Casper Spaans and Joep Strooper.
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In the longest match of the tie, Dodd and Lila Dundas forced a decider against Sterre Bang and Inger Pothuizen, eventually losing by the tighest of margins, 21-12 16-21 21-19.
England then sewed up their win over hosts Spain with a match to spare as Song and Parab each won their singles in straight games, before Horseman and Lee secured the victory with a 21-15 21-19 win in the men’s doubles.
Song enjoyed a perfect record at the Championships as he also triumphed over Pascal Cheng of Austria, as England won the final four matches to triumph 4-1.
They just missed out on a place in the quarter-finals as the Netherlands defeated both Spain and the Netherlands to emerge from the group stages unbeaten before losing to eventual champions Denmark in the semi-finals.
All of the players will now compete individually in singles and doubles at the European Junior Championships.
Thank you to the England junior team’s sponsor YONEX for their support.
Photo courtesy of BadmintonPhoto