Rishi Choudhury and Shariff Shamsudeen

Hackney badminton club win titles at London tournament

Hackney’s Black Arrows and Sobell Badminton Clubs tasted more success at the London Badminton Tournament.

The competition attracted 170 players from all over the capital as well as neighbouring counties of Middlesex, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey last weekend.

And the Hackney clubs fielded a mixture of players in the under-11s, under-13s, under-15s and under-17s events.

In the under-11 boy’s doubles event, seven-year-old Dylan Gregory and eight-year-old Joshua Babb-Joseph, the youngest pair in the tournament, made it through to the final, where they were narrowly beaten.

Sunday then saw the team reach every final, with Black Arrows captain Shariff Samsudeen reaching five himself.

In the under-15 boy’s singles, 13-year-old Samsudeen dominated the event, with a comfortable route to the final which he won with ease.

He then joined up with teammate Rishi Choudhury to win the boy’s under-15 doubles. Out for a hat-trick of trophies in the age category, he then partnered Jaina Shah to win the mixed doubles.

Not satisfied with making a clean sweep in the under-15 age group, Samsudeen also played in the under-17 boy’s singles, but proved that he was also too strong for that group by also winning that event too.

The under-17 boy’s doubles saw Samsudeen team up with regular partner D’Reece Allen-Walker, to put on a great exhibition of doubles, where they powered their way to an easy victory in the finals.