Collyer’s student helps England shine at U17 European Badminton Championships

David grabbed a bronze medal in the singles competition and helped the side claim Team Silver overall in a fantastic display in Turkey.

Five of the nine-strong team (four boys and five girls) medalled in all five individual events (singles, doubles and mixed), including two golds.

David, 16, is a pupil at Collyer’s and trains at the Performance Centre at Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre and twice a week at Wimbledon’s Performance Centre.

He is on the England Junior Performance Programme, which involves additional England training and fitness camps as well as being involved in both National and International tournaments.

In recent years England have only managed two medals at the European Championships in individual events, but went to Ankara, Turkey seeded second.

It meant the pressure was on and especially for David, the number one boys singles player in the team.

First up England beat Sweden 3-2 before defeating both Ukraine and Norway with convincing 5-0 victories.

The quarter-final was the real test against a very tough German side, with England just pulling off a 3-2 win and David enjoying an outstanding game in beating his opposite number one player 23-21 in the third.

After beating hosts Turkey in the semi-final they then faced Denmark, the number 1 seeds, in the final.

Always a tough ask, they came second losing 3-1 to take a well-deserved Silver medal.

The England players then had some fantastic individual results too, David exceeding expectations by coming away with a Bronze medal in the individual boys singles.

It caps a good few months for David following his silver in the singles at the U19 English Nationals against boys two years his senior, which saw him selected in a team of eight to play for England in the Junior World Championships in Malaysia.