By Nicola Kenton
February 3 2020, 13.00
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A tough journey to the top made victory so sweet for Alex Lane after reigning supreme at the English National Badminton Championships.
The 24-year-old has reached the sharp end of the men’s singles event for the past five years but bowed out at the semi-final stage in 2019.
This time he held his nerve right to the very last in Winchester, putting last year’s disappointment to one side to lift the trophy on a dramatic final day of competition.
Victory over Johnnie Torjussen secured him the title but Lane had to scrap his way to win, praising his opponents’ approach in the final after the 21-19 21-10 success.
“It feels really good, I think I had a difficult journey to the win here this week,” Lane said. “I had three good players so it feels good to get number two.
“The first game was tough for me; Johnnie came out really confident even from the first rally so I thought I did well to stick in there and managed to get the win.”
Top seed Lane entered the competition at the quarter-final stage and faced a tough test in Harry Huang, eventually prevailing in a three-game victory.
The Kingston-born athlete ensured he went one step better than last year when he advanced from the last four with a convincing 21-15 21-8 win over David Jones.
That then sent up the grandstand finale with Torjussen, needing just two games to seal the win and complete a perfect start to 2020.
For results and more information on the English National Badminton Championships, visit badmintonengland.co.uk
Feature image credit: Alan Spink.
