Badminton star Dalvi helps England to European bronze in Turkey

Luton badminton player Nadeem Dalvi was part of an England side who retained their bronze medal at the 2026 European Men’s Team Championships in Istanbul last week.

England had been drawn into the same group as Denmark, Spain and Finland, going up against the Danes first, as they lost 5-0, Dalvi pushing his opponent the furthest, losing 18-21, 21-17, 21-13 to Ditlev Jaeger Holm in 51 minutes. They then took on Finland, triumphing 3-2 with victory in the final match to get some much-needed points on the board.

Joakim Oldorff handed Finland the advantage in the first singles match with a 21-18, 21-10 victory over Harry Huang before Ben Lane and Sean Vendy claimed a quickfire 21-10, 21-6 success over Eliel Melleri and Niilo Nyqvist. Cholan Kayan lost a nailbiter to Kalle Koljonen, with a 15-21, 21-18, 21-14 defeat, before Callum Hemming and Zach Russ ensured it went to a decider with a 21-13, 21-11 win over Alvar Melleri and Oldorff.

There, Dalvi proved to be the hero, as he won a marathon match against Ananda Galvani Daniswara 23-25, 21-17, 21-12 in over an hour. The group stages ended on a high with a 5-0 win over Spain as Huang, Kayan and Alex Green got their first wins of the tournament, England only dropping one game in the contest.

After winning two of their group stage encounters, England came up against the defending champions Denmark once more in the semi-finals, putting up a far more commendable performance in a 3-1 loss. Huang pushed world number three Anders Antonsen all the way in a 75-minute epic, losing 21-9, 23-21, 21-15.

Lane and Vendy then got revenge over Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen with a notable 21-19, 21-17 win over the pairing who sit five places above them in the world rankings. Victories for Rasmus Gemke over Cholan Kayan and Daniel Lundgaard, and Mads Vestergaard over Callum Hemming and Zach Russ, confirmed Denmark’s place in the final and England’s bronze medal.

Lane said: “We lost to them earlier on in the week and both sat down with Nathan and watched the match back after knowing we were going to play Denmark again in the semi-finals to see where we needed to improve on the previous round and managed to implement the tactics a few days later which I’m really proud of.

Meanwhile Dalvi was also in action at the 2026 English National Championships in Manchester earlier in the month, as having seen off Heng Lin Ngan in the quarter-final 21-9, 21-16, he reached the final, although was unable to prevent top seed Harry Huang securing his third consecutive men's singles national title in a 21-13, 21-11 defeat, meaning he claimed the silver medal.

Writing on Instagram, Dalvi said: “Back to Back National Championships Finals for me which is something to be proud about and walking away with a silver medal is something I’m still very grateful for. Thank you to all of those supporting me throughout my journey! “Unfortunately it was the same story as last year, but sharing the podium with a good friend in Harry and recreating another final with him is something I can smile about. One day…"