SCHOOLS from the north of the county dominated play at the inaugural Under-14 Suffolk Schools Badminton Championships.

Stuart Watson

SCHOOLS from the north of the county dominated play at the inaugural Under-14 Suffolk Schools Badminton Championships.

Held at Ipswich's Holywells High School, 26 students from six schools battled it out knowing that the winners would go on to Cambridge on February 27 to represent Suffolk at the regional finals.

The first matches started off at a fast and furious pace with Lothingland Middle School from Lowestoft taking a commanding lead in Group A with a 4-1 victory over Deben High School. Deben took an early lead in the first singles but Lothingland doubles showed excellent team work to take the match.

Group 2 was a closer affair with Halesworth Middle School scraping a 3-2 win over County Upper School from Bury. The match scores bounced from one side to the other with County Upper eventually taking the final doubles game and the victory.

County Upper continued this excellent run with another 3-2 victory, this time over Beyton Middle School, while the County Upper girls showed great determination to keep their heads and win the match after a late rally by Beyton.

This grit was also shown by the Lowestoft girls as they completed a 4-1 victory over Newmarket College. Lothingland's doubles training was obviously paying off as they completed two convincing doubles' wins.

With Lothingland topping the group and qualifying for the final it was down to Newmarket College and Deben High School to battle it out for a place in the third and fourth place play-off. With the scores poised at 1-1 after the two singles matches, Deben pulled away to win their doubles and clinch the match 4-1.

In Group 2, with County Upper already in the final, it was down to Halesworth and Beyton to battle it out for a third and fourth play-off match against Deben. This was duly completed by Beyton as they won the match 3-2.

The fifth and sixth place play-off between Halesworth and Newmarket College saw Halesworth complete a thumping 5-0 victory.

Meanwhile, the third and fourth place play-off saw Beyton lose their first match only to go on and complete a comprehensive 4-1 victory.

The final was played between two excellent teams. County Upper had the benefit of being Under-14s, whereas the Lothingland side were all playing up a year as Under-13s.

After two close singles matches the score was tied at 1-1, but Lothingland's excellent doubles play saw them overpower County Upper to take the match and the County Championship 4-1.

HALESWORTH Middle School won the inaugural Under-14 Suffolk Boys Badminton Championships.

The north Suffolk school demonstrated some fantastic skills against students that were a year older than them. They started really well against Beyton Middle School with a comprehensive 5-0 victory. This was then followed up with a strong 4-1 victory.

Meanwhile, in the other group, it was Elm Tree Middle School from Lowestoft that started well with a 4-1 victory over King Edwards VI School from Bury. Hosts Holywells also started well with a 4-1 victory over Scaltback Middle School.

Some aggressive smashes and excellent team work saw Holywells take their second game against King Edwards VI School and with Elm Tree beating Scaltback Middle it was down to the final game between Elm Tree and Holywells.

Holywells played some good badminton but Elm Tree were too strong and finished off as 4-1 winners.

The final between Halesworth and Elm Tree was always going to be a closely fought contest and it started well for Elm Tree, however, Halesworth were too strong throughout and they ran out 4-1 winners.

They will now represent the county at the Regional Finals in Cambridge on 27 February.