Brilliant bronze for scholar Will Jones as University of Bath student badminton players impress at English and Welsh National Champs
Sporting scholar Will Jones won men’s doubles bronze as University of Bath students produced impressive performances at the English and Welsh Senior National Badminton Championships over the weekend.
Sports Performance student Jones, who is coached by Peter Bush and supported by a Santander Sports Scholarship, and partner Ollie Baczala came through a shaky first round at the English Championships before obliterating their quarter-final opponents 21-15 21-10 to guarantee a podium place.
Defending champions and full-time internationals Ben Lane and Sean Vendy proved too strong in the semi-finals (pictured), winning 21-15 21-10, but the bronze medal was a fantastic achievement for Jones and Baczala.
Three Team Bath Dual Career student-athletes also competed in Nottingham, with Kaylan Jensen (Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) and Harry Jones (Accounting and Finance) both breezing past their first-round opponents in the men’s singles to challenge the seventh and eighth seeds respectively.
Jones was edged out 21-16 21-14 by Neil Bhabuta but Jensen overcame U19 Nationals runner-up Ziming Pang in three tight sets, 21-12 19-21 21-16. He then fought back brilliantly from 20-16 down in the second set of his quarter-final before going down 21-12 23-21 to third seed Nadeem Dalvi.
Katie Scott was unstoppable in the first round of the women’s singles, winning 21-5 21-6, and the Psychology student continued that outstanding form into her next match against Freya Patel-Redfearn, a full-time player at the National Badminton Centre who had to battle for her 22-20 21-13 victory. Patel-Redfearn went on to reach the final, where she was beaten 21-10 21-5 by former Team Bath Futures player Kirby Ngan.
Scott then teamed up with University of Bath alumna Jessica Li in the women’s doubles, coming through a long and challenging first-round match 14-21 21-16-21-17. Again this meant coming up against a seeded pair, eventual runners-up Abbygael Harris and Annie Lado, who progressed 21-10 21-12.
The Welsh Senior Nationals in Cardiff saw Lucie Whiteman (Criminology) and her partner Gareth Oates reach the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles, winning their round of 16 match 21-16 21-13 before being edged out 21-14 21-10 by number three seeds Scott Oates and Aimee Whiteman.
Click here to find out more about the badminton programme at the University of Bath.
