BADMINTON

YOUNG badminton players at Davenant School have the chance to be crowned the best in the region for their ages after they reached the national finals.

The Year Eight team of Tristain Taylor, Thomas Phillips, Luke Pascoe, and Samuel Murray had already won the county title and recently defeated teams from Kent, Middlesex and Surrey in the Southern area finals.

The Davenant squad form the only Essex team still in the competition, and their success so far means they are already the premier side in the southeast.

They beat Middlesex 4-1, Kent 5-0, and Surrey 3-2 at Wallington, in Surrey, and now are gearing up for the finals in Derbyshire late next month.

Former world doubles champion, Nora Perry coaches the lads at Davenant, which is a designated Badminton academy.

She said: "It is totally unexpected. Three of them are in Year Eight and played against boys who were taller and bigger than them."