10 February, 2025
England enjoyed remarkable success in the 25th Anniversary edition of the McCoig Masters International as they defeated Scotland during a busy January.
Michelle Chen also enjoyed a fruitful month as she claimed three golds in Warwickshire to finish January with an impressive haul.
There were Gold events for the U17s, U13s and Seniors in Milton Keynes, Warwickshire and Northumberland, respectively.
The Seniors County Championships and Master County Challenge also added to a busy month of badminton.
Here is a round-up of all the action…
McCoig Masters International – England Vs Scotland
January marked the 25th anniversary of the annual Robert McCoig Match between England and Scotland as England raced to another dominant victory.
England delivered a 33-10 triumph, winning overall in all age categories at the Sir Craig Reedie Centre, to continue the winning habit against their northern neighbours.
There was particular success in the 40+ category as they raced to a 5-0 win. Joanna Dix and Paul Le Tocq won in the women’s and men’s singles and joined to win over two sets in the mixed doubles.
In the men’s and women’s doubles they were joined by Mark Law and Sarah Burgess, respectively, to complete their undefeated victory.
England 75+ also went without defeat with three straight sets wins. Gavin Horrocks secured a victory in the men’s singles, before Mike Cox and Rodney Forrest won in the men’s doubles and Robert Bell and Penny Shears rounded off the feat in the mixed doubles.
In the 50+ category, Carl Jennings and Mark King achieved a closely fought win in the men’s doubles, having lost to Scottish pair Alan McMillan and Craig Robertson in their previous three encounters.
King posted on Instagram: “Had an epic battle in men’s doubles. This time we managed to win 21-18, 17-21, 26-24!! Overall team won as well so great day all-round.”
Badminton England 50+ collect their trophy at the McCoig International
U17 Gold Milton Keynes 2025
George Clare and Mia Fox achieved considerable doubles success in Milton Keynes as they both took home two doubles titles.
The pair partnered to win the mixed doubles final 21-18 21-16 against Yixiang Hou and Martha Ng.
Clare also won the open doubles with his partner Sajan Senthuran as they overcame a tense first game to win 23-21 21-11 against Hou and Jasper Wong.
Fox shared a similar journey in Milton Keynes as she raced to gold in straight games in the girls doubles with partner Ng, defeating Martha Franklin and Jemima Ellis.
There was also reason to celebrate for Elsa Mitchell who came back from a game down to beat Nhu Pham 16-21 25-23 21-14 and claim the girls singles title.
Ho Ching (Justin) Chan claimed the open singles title in a closely fought match against Rhys Andrew Williams, triumphing 22-20 17-21 21-18.
In the girls singles final, Meghna Mahesh defeated Martha Franklin 21-18 21-13 while Sajan Senthuran won comprehensively in the open singles final 21-12 21-19 against Oliver Wu.
U13 Gold Warwickshire 2025
It was triple delight for Michelle Chen at the University of Warwick as she took home three golds from the U13 Gold Warwickshire tournament.
Chen partnered with Saanvi Urs in the girls doubles as they defeated Abby Zyi En Gan and Nidhi Shukla 21-17 21-16 to secure the title.
It would not be the last time Chen would meet Gan as they came up against each other in the girls singles final. Chen once more triumphed, winning 21-19 21-11 to take her second gold of the day.
She partnered Jamie Choong in the mixed doubles to secure a third victory as they beat Vihaan Nair and Gan 21-16 21-14 to take home gold.
Choong enjoyed further success of his own in the open doubles as he partnered with Yichen Li to beat Vihaan Nair and Jonathan Theivendran 21-15 17-21 21-13.
Amitesh Purushothaman also left the University of Warwick with a gold medal as he earned a 21-12 21-14 victory in the open singles final, defeating Sherlock Sheung Kiu Tai.
2025 Northumberland Senior Gold
Jessica Allen was the big winner in Northumberland as she won the women’s singles and women’s doubles titles at the tournament.
She beat Charlotte Forbes in the singles final to take gold, before partnering with Abbie Smith in the doubles to claim victory over Holly Newall and Toni Woods in the final.
Jack Taylor took the gold in the open singles after defeating Jamie Pearcy, but Pearcy did get his hands on gold as he won the open doubles with Nathan Rossiter.
The collection of gold medallists was rounded off by Joshua Young and Lucy Dodd, who claimed the mixed doubles title in the north east.
Senior County Championships
There was further action in the Senior County Championships as Lanarkshire stayed at the top of the Championship in an undefeated month at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre.
They won 10-1 against Yorkshire 2 before defeating Sussex 7-4 and Glasgow & NS 2-9.
ROI Leinster closed the gap on Yorkshire 1 in second with victories over Nottinghamshire, Surrey 2 and Cheshire.
Yorkshire 1 secured victories over Sussex and Cheshire but fell to 6-5 defeat to Nottinghamshire.
Masters County Challenge
January also saw action in the Masters County Challenge and it was a month to celebrate for Surrey in the O70s Premier Division.
They were undefeated in six matches over the weekend of action, sending them to the top of the table.. There was a stellar showing from their women’s doubles pair Brenda Creasey and Janet Williams, who did not lose a match.
Yorkshire were the team to watch in the O60s Premier competition, winning all of their six matches – three of them 4-0.
In Milton Keynes, Nottinghamshire 1 were one of two undefeated teams in the O50s Premier, as they won five and drew one while Middlesex won three and drew three.
In fact, it was only Middlesex who could prevent Nottinghamshire taking a clean sweep as the sides drew 2-2, with Nottinghamshire winning both mixed doubles pairings while Middlesex took the spoils in the men’s and women’s doubles.
In the O40s Premier Division, Cambridgeshire finished the weekend top of the standings after an undefeated display.
They achieved one of only two 4-0 wins in the competition as they triumphed over Bedfordshire.