National bronze for ace Amber

The year nine student reached the semi-finals of the girls’ doubles at Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield playing alongside long term partner Alice Torjussen (Bucks).

Amber and Alice won all their box matches in two games before pulling off a tremendous 21-14, 15-21, 22-20 victory over third seeded England pair Joshmyn Bong (Warwickshire) and Ciara Lindsay (Dorset).

That put unseeded Amber and Alice - the tournament’s surprise packages - through to the semi-finals where they lost 16-21, 18-21 to top seeds and eventual winners Ira Banerjee (Northumberland) and Jessica Pugh (Shropshire).

Amber also enjoyed a decent run in the girls’ singles. After successfully negotiating her box, she notched up a good 21-19, 19-21, 21-7 victory over the seeded Georgia Cattermole (Suffolk).

Her progress was halted in the quarter-finals by a 15-21, 19-21 reverse at the hands of Bong. The prestigious event attracted a total entry of 42 girls and 54 boys.

See Friday’s Hastings Observer for the full article.