Two Hackney youngsters star at badminton bonanza
Stoke Newington’s Black Arrows Badminton Club had reason for double celebrations following the Badminton England Birmingham Bonanza last week.
Two of the club’s up and coming players, Shariff Shamsudeen and D’Reece Allen-Walker, travelled up to the West Midlands from Hackney, with coaches Amardeep Panesar and Henry Gaspard, returning with a singles and doubles title.
In the boy’s under-16s singles, Shamsudeen won his group convincingly to progress to the knock-out stages, while Allen-Walker narrowly failed to qualify after losing one of his group games 20-21.
Shamsudeen then defeated Steven Genever 21-16 in the semi-finals before going on to beat Warwickshire county player Joe Ennis 21-8 in the final to clinch the title.
The two Hackney boys then teamed up for the boy’s under-16s doubles and progressed with ease to the finals when they faced Ennis and Genever.
However, Shamsudeen and Allen-Walker proved too strong for the Warwickshire county pair, winning 21-18 to take the doubles title.
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