At the weekend 34 of Cornwall’s top young players took part in this years under 21 championships at Penryn College’s sports hall. With young people from Penzance to Launceston and an age range of 12 to 20, there was some exciting badminton and several sets of siblings from the Sillifant, Semonin, Dyer, Bailey, Bicks and Beaumont families giving their all.
A large entry of 32 in the men’s singles eventually saw all 4 top seeds make it through to the semi-finals, with Launceston’s Sillifant brothers Liam and Tyler, defeating the Semonins of St Austell, Noah and Milo, to reach the final yet again, which was a repeat of this seasons senior county championships. This time younger brother Tyler showed all his grit, fitness and speed to win in two, after a very close first end.
The top 2 women, senior county champion Cara Collins from Liskeard and Mollie Bailey from Truro reached the final, after Mollie had won a tight three ender against Camborne’s Amelia Burrell. The thrilling final match see-sawed between the two, with Mollie taking the first game, Cara the second, then Cara just hanging on to edge the decider after both players had shown determination and skill.
The men’s doubles were again dominated by 3 sets of brothers, the Sillifants and Semonins plus Truro’s Dyers. Milo and Noah just beat Elliot Dyer and his partner Mark Pearson in the semis followed by Liam and Tyler winning against Harry Dyer and Luke Sillifant, to meet in the final, which the Sillifants won in two close ends to win the title.
The women’s doubles came down to a play off between the top 2 seeds, Camborne’s Kellen Moore and Amelia Burrell versus Mollie Bailey and Melissa Lin from Truro, which turned out to be a very close 3 ender that the number 1 seeds Kellen and Amelia just won.
At the end of a long day 16 pairs competed in the mixed doubles, and as predicted, the number I and 2 seeds reached the final after a comfortable run. This time it was the Semonin brothers against each other, as Noah and his partner Kellen took on Milo and Amelia to try and defend their crown. There was no quarter given as Noah and Kellen proved too strong and consistent to win the final event of a successful day.
Results:
Men’s singles winner Tyler Sillifant runner up Liam Sillifant
Women’s singles winner Cara Collins “ Mollie Bailey
Men’s doubles winners Liam & Tyler Sillifant “ Noah & Milo Semonin
Women’s doubles winners Kellen Moore & Amelia Burrell “ Mollie Bailey & Melissa Lin
Mixed doubles winners Noah Semonin & Kellen Moore “ Milo Semonin & Amelia Burrell
Plate events winners
Men’s singles Misha Higgerson
Women’s singles Ellie Watkinson
Men’s doubles Kin Cheung & Joseph Tucker
Mixed doubles Harry Dyer & Cara Collins
