On Sunday 30th March the Lai & Lau brothers, supported by Aditya Pandey represented Catholic High School, Chester, Cheshire and the Northwest of England at the Schools National Badminton Finals in Milton Keynes. The Key Stage 4 boys team, comprised of Bobby & Jimmy Lai, Pak & Webber Lau, and Aditya Pandey, competing at the home of badminton at the national centre of excellence. They met at The Catholic High School, Chester on the Saturday travelling to the overnight venue with Mrs Harding and Mr Green. The boys were playing against representatives from each region of England, playing a total of 25 games against five different schools who were area winners from their own respective regions. The students got to meet fellow like minded badminton players, all playing to an exceptionally high standard, with top ranked players from across the country. They also got the opportunity to meet Paralympic badminton player Krysten Coombs, who competed for Team GB at the Paris Olympic Games last summer. All the players games were streamed live on YouTube.

This was our first and hopefully not our last adventure to the finals, as all the players except one are playing up an age group. This year we finished as the 7th best ranked Key Stage 4 boys team in England, and the boys have already set their sights at trying to emulate this years success in reaching the national finals. Mrs Harding said “it was a real honour and privilege to be present at the finals, even though it was Mother’s Day! Badminton has grown exponentially over the past 18 months in the school, and hopefully this will be the catalyst for things to improve further”.