Thursday 24 April 2014 A girls’ badminton team from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) has served up a first for the school by winning through to the national final of England’s top badminton competition for schools. Out of 1500 schools that entered teams for the Center Parcs National Schools Badminton Championships last October, just 36 schools will be represented at the finals on 10 and 11 May. Boys’ and girls’ teams play in two age categories – years 7, 8 and 9 or Key Stage 3 (KS3) and years 10 and 11 or Key Stage 4 (KS4). GSAL’s KS3 team of Beth Irwin-Jones and Sophie Lancaster, both year 9, and year 8 pupils Jessie Ducker and twins Helen and Sian Kelly will compete for the national title at Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest. They have already played four rounds to progress through the competition, winning the regional championship to earn their place in the national finals. Beth said: “The rounds have of course got harder each time, and we won’t know who we’re playing at the final until the day. We do know they are the best teams in England so we’re quite nervous, although it should be fun!” At this month’s regional final in York, the girls played three matches, winning every game against the schools representing South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Their final match against Hymers College, Hull, was only decided in the last game which GSAL won by a good margin. The KS4 girls team, Ci-Ci Lu, year 11, with Louise Marsden, Rachel Miller and Sophie Summersgill, all of year 10, have also performed strongly throughout the competition. Having been crowned West Yorkshire champions, they finished their season as regional runners up following a tight concluding match against Hymers College. Teacher Faisal Motashar, who coordinates GSAL’s badminton teams, said: “Congratulations to our girls on their outstanding achievement. All of our players displayed exceptional skills and performance. I am very proud of them all for their commitment, hard work, dedication and sportsmanship, and for being good ambassadors for our school. “I would also like to thank our two coaches Barry Courtman and Geoff Thompson for all their time and effort in training our teams.” General Senior School News
