Yonex Welsh Nationals

Posted by James Phillips at 09:02 on 1 February 2015

Nats

The 2015 Yonex Welsh National Badminton Championships at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff brought with it all the drama and expectation associated with the event. This premier closed event attracted players from National Squads (senior, U17 and U19 squads) as well as County and club players and saw national titles fought over and won and lost over the two days of competition.

In the ladies singles there was a repeat of last year’s final with both No1 seed Carissa Turner and No2 seed Aimee Moran getting through to the final. Turner held her nerve to make it a total of 3 singles titles in a row coming through the match 26-24, 21-12.

The Ladies Doubles final would yet again see Turner face Moran as the No.1 and No.2 seeded pairs of Turner/Thomas and Moran/Mahenthiralingam reached the final. Turner and fellow Cardiffian and Welsh International Sarah Thomas, were looking for their fourth ladies doubles title in a row and their experience showed with the duo easing to a 21-15, 21-14 victory.

As always, the mixed doubles contest proved captivating with 3 of the 4 seeds making the semi-finals. Last year’s winning pair of Daniel Font and Sarah Thomas did not contest for the title and both payers entered the competition with different partners. The first semi-final saw Commonwealth players Joe Morgan and Sarah Thomas take out the up and coming youngsters of Tsung Fong Mo and Gean Sou Mo (pictured below). The youngsters rattled the top seeds taking the 1st set 21-19, however the experience of Morgan & Thomas showed, coming back to win the next two games 21-11, 21-18. The 2nd semi-final saw Oliver Gwilt pair up with sister Emilie and they took on Daniel Font and Aimee Moran. The Gwilts played extremely well winning 21-17, 22-20. In the final which showcased quality shots and exciting rallies, the Gwilts continued their good form with a hard fought victory against top seeds Morgan & Thomas and with that claiming the title 21-16, 21-18.

Gean

Onto the men’s singles and No.1 seed Mold’s Daniel Font showed complete dominance in the singles event all weekend. This continued in the final with yet another strong performance to see him overcome rising star Tsung Fong Mo in a one sided final.

With Font and Gwilt at one title apiece it was onto the last event of the day, the men’s doubles. A cracking match saw Morgan & Font save 4 match points after being 20-18 down in the 2nd set. The boys never gave up and went on to take the match and the title 15-21, 23-21, 21-15.

Carissa Turner said,

‘I'm really pleased to have retained the women's singles and doubles titles for a third year running. I had a tough singles final especially the 1st set however I managed to push the pace early on in the second to take the win. It was great to be back on court with Sarah, we haven’t played since Glasgow but I feel just as comfortable on court with her as I did then.'

For the full set of results please click here.