This season has gone really well so far for Sophie Brown and doubles partner Holly Smith.

Although somewhat disappointed with their performance at the Commonwealth Youth Games in September, when they went out in the quarter finals, it was a brilliant competition.

The first domestic tournament for Sophie (Leeds Metropolitan Hub) and Holly was the Wimbledon Under-19 which being used for team selection for the World Juniors in Taiwan. Sophie and Holly won the doubles and joining with Rhys Walker, Sophie finished runner-up in the mixed; a great start in their first competition together.

Next the pair began their Badminton Europe Junior Circuit competition. First up was the Swiss International (30th Sept-2nd Oct in Lausanne). Sophie and Holly were seeded 2 in women’s doubles and met the number one seeds from Turkey in the final. Taking the first set easy they sorted themselves out to win the second 22-20. After being behind in the third set they managed to get back to 18-20 before Turkey secured victory. A real disappointment for the girls, but they came back from Europe with two silver medals; an achievement they can be proud of.

Two weeks later it was time for the Danish Cup (13th-16th October in Gentofte). Being seeded 3 /4 had given Sophie and Holly a really tough draw, meeting two Danish players who had both medalled in the European U17 championships in their first match. Managing to beat the Danes in two sets, Sophie and Holly carried this momentum all the way through to the final. Despite losing the first set 18-21, they won the next two 21-15, 21-13. Winning the Danish Cup at any age is seen as an achievement as it’s such a strong competition, but especially at U19.

These two international results placed the girls in the top three women’s doubles on the European Junior Circuit ranking, but as the pair have not played in Europe since then they are currently being ranked at number five. However with the upcoming Dutch and German Juniors in a couple of months, they hope to add to their success.

“The Badminton World Federation launched its junior ranking table at the start of 2012 and Holly and I were shocked to find ourselves in the top ten! I train throughout the week at Leeds Metropolitan University with some of the best players in the country. It’s a great opportunity to be coached at this level and train with the best and I feel my results show the progress that I am making.” Sophie Brown, Leeds Metropolitan Hub