Medal hat-trick for Lydia

The 16-year-old from Hastings won gold in the girls’ doubles, silver in the girls’ singles and bronze in the mixed doubles at the Badminton England Under-17 Gold Circuit tournament in Loughborough.

Powell and Jess Hopton justified their top seeding in the girls’ doubles by beating the country’s number one under-17 pair, Ira Banerjee and Jessica Pugh, 21-15, 11-21, 21-17 in the final.

In the singles, Parkwood 6th form student Powell comfortably won both her box matches before coming through a tricky quarter-final against Kirby Ngan 21-16, 21-12.

She saw off international player Hopton 21-13, 21-13 in the semi-finals only to be pipped 22-20, 15-21, 13-21 in the final by Irish number one Alannah Stephenson.

Powell and Angus Pedersen (Middlesex) cruised through their first round match in the mixed doubles, and then stunned top seeds Harrison Simcock and Brodie Miller, an England under-17 pair, 21-10, 21-12.

They overcame another international pair, David Jones and Joshmyn Bong, 21-16, 16-21, 21-13 in the quarter-finals before losing in two against Craig Smith and Banerjee in the semis.

Powell is now 27th and rising in the national senior women’s rankings for women’s doubles, 33rd for singles and 34th for mixed doubles.