U19 English National Championships victory for Luton badminton star Dalvi

Luton badminton star Nadeem Dalvi was crowned the U19 English National Championships Men’s Singles winner at the prestigious tournament held in Milton Keynes over the weekend.

The teenager was ranked number one in the competition, receiving a bye in the first round and then coasting to a 21-1, 21-2 victory over James Weeks in the second round.

He was tested by Dillon Chong in round three, coming through 21-8, 21-14, before a 21-9, 21-14 quarter-final success over Luke Salwey.

Dalvi did then drop his first set of the competition when facing fifth seed Blake Hoang in the semi-final, but still triumphed 21-12, 14-21, 21-16, to set up a final clash against second seed Michael Pang.

The Lutonian proved too strong, winning 21-17, 21-10, as on his success, he said: “I’m over the moon. I’m so happy to join a few great names as the U19 men’s singles champion.

“I had some tough matches, particularly the semi-final. I’m not very comfortable playing (Blake) but I was so glad to get through that. In the final, I brought my level. I felt really good on court.”

“I definitely came here trying to win, I was top seed. I definitely felt the pressure as the guy to beat at the tournament. I’m so happy I did that.

“The tournament was brilliantly run, everything ran on time and the games were flowing nicely. It worked out really well.”

Tweeting afterwards, Dalvi added: “Absolute proud moment to achieve this prestigious title of being National Singles U19 CHAMPION!

"Could not have done it without support of Sara and her superb team of coaches which includes ex National Senior champion, Alex Lane.

"Thanks one and all.”

Dalvi also went in the men’s doubles event, where alongside Charlie Castle they received a bye in the first round, before taking a notable scalp by beating second seeds Robin Harper and Harry Wakefield 24-22, 21-19, also seeing off Marcus Ip and Jia Bin Lee 21-12, 21-18 in the quarter-finals.

That led to a semi-final contest with Joseph Scott and Krithicck Sivakumaar, Dalvi and Castle coming out on top 19-21, 21-8, 22-20.

Victory put them through to face top seeds Hoang and Samuel Jones in the final, as Dalvi couldn’t make it a double success, going down 21-11, 21-16 to finish with silver.