SOLIHULL’s Kiara Henry claimed her first European title at the under-17 Danish Junior Badminton Cup in Hvidore.
Henry played with her levels partner Annie Lado, of Hampshire, with both players on the England pathway programme.
In their first round the duo came up against a strong Danish team who they overcame in just two games, leading them into the second round against another pair from Denmark who they also beat in two games.
In the semi-final, they were drawn against the number one seeds from Sweden who are a very strong established pair on the European circuit.
They battled hard in the match, losing the first game 22-20, but then won the second and third games 21-19 and 21-14 respectively.
By the final the pairing of Henry and Lado had established their dominance and they took the win and title in just two games, winning 21-19 and 21-17.
This was Kiara’s first European title and is a great follow up to her National English level doubles title which she took in April of this year.
She will continue to train hard at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes and Birmingham before travelling with the England team to the Swedish International in September whilst fitting training and competing around her first year A-Level studies.
