Exmouth badminton ace Ben Lane had another fantastic weekend when he played in the badminton national championships in Sheffield, coming away with the men’s doubles gold medal playing in an age group two years above his.

Partnering Sean Vendy from Buckinghamshire the Exmouth community college school boy kept up his number one seeded position by reaching the finals of the Under-19 doubles with wins over B King and M Claire 21-16, 22-20 then R Quek and R Tang 21-16, 21-12.

In the semi-final the pair played H Arksey and D Jones beating them 21-7, 21-19 earning them a final showdown against A Pederson and M Widdicombe from Hertfordshire.

Lane and Vendy won a closely contested final 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 win. The victory for Lane, playing as an Under-17 player, means that he could effectively claim a hat-trick of Under-19 doubles’ titles for he can return in each of the next two years!

In the mixed doubles Lane paired up with regular partner Jess Pugh of Shropshire and progressed to the finals with wins over A Pederson and T Samuel and then M Flynn and L Morrow to reach the last four.

In the semi-final they beat the top under 19 pair of C Bambrick and J Moore 21-17, 21-16 to earn the chance of a second gold medal.

Unfortunately, Pugh badly twisted her ankle in the doubles final and had to pull out of the mixed final.

Teenager Lane now is in training for the European under 17 Championships being held in Turkey with a tournament in Holland this week and a waiting selection for the under 19 world juniors in Malaysia later on in the month.