Charlie gets bronze in Hampshire U12

Well done to FastStep player Charlie Handel who played brilliantly at the Hampshire U12 Open tournament and came away with a medal.

Playing with Sussex partner Dewi Rice, the boys beat the number 1 seeds in the round robin stage, but lost narrowly to another pair. This set up a 3-way tie with Charlie and Dewi missing out on reaching the final on games, but earning a bronze medal for coming second in the group.

Charlie played well in the singles also, just losing out to the 3/4 seed in his box after going to setting twice! Many more medals to come from Charlie in the future for sure.

Double silver for FastStep in league final

FastStep’s U14 and U18 teams both finished runners up in the Surrey Plus junior badminton league final day in Epsom today.

The U14s started the day in joint first place out of 8 teams after the first event in January, but with the harder side of the draw to play.

They played brilliantly to beat Horsell A and Swifts B, then the crunch match versus Swifts A was always going to be close. We won the mixed and girls doubles and young Charlie Handel (2 years young) came within a point of winning the boys singles. The 3-2 defeat left FastStep runners up.

There was a similar story for the U18s, with 5-0 wins against all teams until the final crunch match against Swifts A. Amy Radford and Casey Coats managed a win in the girls doubles, but the other games were just too tough. The 4-1 defeat confirmed FastStep’s position as runners up.

Fab weekend for FastStep players

Our players were out on court in force this weekend at a range of tournaments and matches.

At the Crawley Junior tournament, FastStep dominated the medals with Charlie Handel winning gold in singles and doubles at y5/6, Will Bradshaw winning gold in singles at y7/8, Luke Davies winning gold in singles at y11/12, Will Pieckielon winning silver in singles at y11/12, Amy Radford winning gold in singles at y11/12 and with Casey Coats winning gold in doubles at y11/12. Wow guys, that’s very impressive!

Meanwhile in Haywards Heath four of our players were doing battle for the Sussex U14 team against Hampshire. Ben Anthony won 3 of his 4 matches and there were fighting performances from Erin Bradshaw, Rebecca Moon and Isabelle Craig. In Oxford on Sunday, Harry Tree won 3 of his 4 matches, helping Sussex U16 beat Oxfordshire.

In the final Senior county weekend of the season there were several FastStep players representing Sussex – Sussex 3, which secured promotion, included Daniel Hatton, Jack Thomson and Rhiannon Turner-Noakes, while Sussex 2 included Eva Craig and Andrew Brownlie. Not forgetting some of our former players who were also in action: Laura Brownlie representing Worcs 4 and Adele Woodhams representing Cambs 3.

It’s brilliant to see so many of you out there competing at such a high standard.

Jack wins Eastbourne men’s singles

Well done to FastStep Elite player Jack Thomson who won the recent Eastbourne Senior Tournament. Jack had a hefty handicap in the event so all credit to him for retaining his title.

Successful weekend for Rebecca

FastStep Stars player Rebecca Moon is going to need some new shelves after bagging a handful of medals and trophies at the weekend.

On Saturday she teamed up with brother Jake Davidson (FastStep Elite) in the Eastbourne Mixed Doubles tournament and emerged runner up in the second division.

Then on Sunday in Ely, Cambs she reached the final of the girls singles at the Norfolk U14 Bronze, finishing runner up with a silver medal. Then in the girls doubles picked up another silver medal after winning all but one match in the round robin event. Well done Rebecca, a good weekend’s work!

Medals for Elite players

Well done to two FastStep Elite players who picked up medals at the weekend.

Luke Davies claimed silver after reaching the final of the boys doubles at the Kent U17 Silver in Gillingham, seeing off some strong pairs on the way. The final was a close one, going all the way to a third game.

And Eva Craig reached the semi-final of the girls singles at the Devon U19 Silver, comfortably beating the third seed in the quarters then losing a hard fought semi to the eventual overall winner.

FastStep reaches national awards final

FastStep Badminton Academy has been shortlisted for Club of the Year in the National Badminton Awards 2017.

Badminton England will announce the winner from the 3 finalists at a ceremony during the All England championships in Birmingham on 10th March.

We’re thrilled to be shortlisted for this prestigious award and will let you know the result once it’s announced!

Success for FastStep’s young coaches

Congratulations to three of our players who have just passed their UKCC Level 1 Badminton coaching qualification.

Amy Radford, Casey Coats and William Pieckielon became qualified coaches after attending the course in Crawley over the last few weeks.

A further well done to Casey who has been appointed the Badminton England Youth Commission Representative for the South.