A total of 33 children contested the first junior badminton tournaments of the season at the National Sports Centre on Saturday.

With all titles up for grabs in both the under-13 and under-17 competitions, it was nice to see some new players having their first taste of competition.

The under-13 events were played in pools. In the girls’ singles, group A winner Molly Bell played group B runner-up Alessia D’Ottavio, winning 21/9 21/4.

Group B winner Fatima Syed played group A runner-up Kelly Cheung, winning 21/7 21/7.

In the final, the lead passed from one girl to another all through the first game, which Molly won 21/18.

The second game was even closer, with Molly ultimately clinching the title 21/20 over Fatima. Well played both girls.

Not to be outdone, the standard of play in the boys’ singles was excellent.

Winner of group A, George Leece, played Oliver Cassidy in the semi-final, George coming out on top 21/18 21/6.

Group B winner Advaith ’Adi’ Malikireddy defeated Lok Yuen Cheung 21/8 21/5.

In the final, both boys showed how they are progressing as members of the junior island squad, listening to what the coaches are telling them. Adi won the first set 21/14, George fighting back in the second to take it 21/19. Adi then won the third and deciding set 21/13.

The girls doubles was won by Kelly Cheung and Fatima Syed, with runners-up Alessia D’Ottavio and Heiman Tang.

The boys doubles was won by Adi Malikireddy and Oliver Cassidy, with George Leece and Lok Yuen Cheung runners-up.

Close games in the mixed doubles resulted in a win by Molly Bell and Adi Malikireddy, with Oliver Cassidy and Fatima Syed runners-up.

This made Adi a well-deserved triple champion.

Games in the Under-17s tournament were again played in pools as a result of some players being unavailable because of Covid-19.

The girls’ singles final saw Annelise Mellor beating Sofie Thornton 21/11 21/11, while Martin Cheung defeated Juan Domingo 21/10 21/20 in what was a very close second game to the boys’ final.

In the girls’ doubles final, Annelise Mellor and Kelly Domingo beat Sofie and Jessica Thornton with only three points difference over the two games.

Martin Cheung and Juan Domingo were winners of the boys’ doubles, with Lucas Collier and Praveen Ballakrishnan runners-up.

The mixed doubles final saw Tommy Cheng and Sofie Thornton runners-up, but the win by Annelise Mellor and Martin Cheung made the latter duo triple champions respectively.

Well done to all who played and thanks to Phil Ardern for running the tournament.

l The Rising Stars event will be held at Bemahague School on Friday, October 29 for Years 3-6, between midday and 4pm.