Harris Win First National Junior Badminton Title
Stonehaven youngster Daniel Harris won his first national championships at the weekend taking home the
Scottish National Junior U11 Badminton title.
Winning all his group stage matches, Daniel went through to the knock out stages and a quarter-final match
against Glasgow’s Josh Taylor. This was a hard fought match, but Daniel won through 21-16. His next
match was to be tougher still – this time a semi-final against Lothian’s Ben Riddle. At one point Daniel went
behind 16-17, but he dug in, kept his cool and took the next 5 points to earn his place in the final against
Akshat Gupta from Glasgow.
Daniel had met Akshat earlier in the day and beaten him, however Akshat was riding high having just won
through against the number 1 seed. The final was a fantastic demonstration of skill and determination from
both boys. At the change of ends Daniel was up 11-6, however Akshat fought back taking the score to 17
all, keeping everyone entertained and on the edge of their seats. Daniel eventually came through, taking
the last four points to win 21-17 making his own little bit of history in the process as the first North East
winner of the U11 boys singles title
In the doubles event, Daniel and his partner Noah Sarvesvaran (Glasgow) got as far as the semi-finals
where they were eventually beaten 18-21 by Ben Riddle and Harry Bent (both Lothian) who then went on to
win the final.
Daniel is currently in primary 6 at Arduthie School. He has been supported and nurtured through
Aberdeenshire Badminton since he was 7 years old and is now in Aberdeenshire’s Badminton
Development Squad where he trains weekly with other talented NE players. In 2015 he earned a place on
the Scottish National Junior Squad Development Programme.
Also competing from Aberdeenshire in their first Scottish National Junior Event were brothers Danny and
Joseph O’Neil - Ferrero, both pupils in P6 and P5 respectively at Mill O’ Forest Primary School,
Stonehaven who also attend Aberdeenshire Development Squads. Some really tough close entertaining
matches saw both boys going through to the singles ‘B’ event with Joseph making it as far as the quarterfinal where he was beaten by the eventual winner and Danny won through as far as the semi-final, whilst in
the doubles ‘B’ event the brothers made it through to the semi-final.
Aberdeenshire Council Sports Officer Joan Prieur said, “These emerging young talented players who love
the game and have been working hard with the assistance of their coaches and the necessary parental
support, are laying down solid foundations making them interesting prospects to follow into the future.”
For all the results go to www.tournamentsoftware.com
L to R Daniel Harris.and Noah Sarvesvran
L to R Danny and Joseph O’Neil Ferrero