Young star successful in three events at badminton championships

Tower Hamlets’ Mannah Rahman led the charge for the borough at the Middlesex Junior Badminton Championships by picking up three titles in Hounslow.

First up for the Stepney Green student was the under-15 boys’ singles event, where he beat six talented opponents on route to the win after cruising to a 21-15 success in the final.

Rahman then teamed up with Gulam Rasul Mahi, who attends St Paul’s Way, in the boys’ doubles competition and the pair easily swept past their rivals in the group stage.

After a comprehensive victory in their semi-final, the boys found themselves up against it in a tense final but held their nerve to prevail 21-18.

If that was not enough for Rahman, he also took part in the mixed doubles alongside Sir John Cass pupil Veronica Ramires.

The duo demonstrated fantastic communication skills to easily win the tournament and send Rahman home with three successes to his name but the overall performance from all involved pleased head coach Chris Dakin.

“The players from the under-15 category were immense today. Their performance is reflective of the hard work and effort the schools in the borough have provided to drive forward badminton in after school sessions over the last couple of years,” said Dakin.

“It’s wonderful to have a cross section of both boys and girls from different schools and areas of the borough coming together and really showing off their talents.”

On the same day, the borough also sent a team to compete at the under-11 championships, with two boys and four girls selected from the Sporting Diamonds Rackets programme.

There was a surprise success for pair Caterina Gibbs (English Martyrs School) and Aisha Mohamed (Shapla Primary School) in the girls’ doubles, while Gibbs also triumphed in the singles event.

Over in the boys’ doubles, Ryan Buttery (St Saviours School) and Arayo La Torre Cruz (Guardian Angels) teamed up to finish second.

And Sporting Diamonds Rackets head coach Lee Murray was delighted with how well the team done given their lack of competition experience.

“For a first tournament for these set of players, the results are nothing short of incredible,” said Murray.

“We knew we had a talented group of young players but what they achieved today was exceptional”.