YORK-BORN badminton ace Alex Fowler has been making a racquet on the national scene, writes Andrew Fowler.

The 19-year-old was crowned the men’s badminton doubles champion at the British Universities and Colleges Sports individual championships.

The Leeds Metropolitan University student, who hails from Clifton Moor, in York, overcame competition from some of Britain’s best shuttlers to win the BUCS event held at Nottingham University.

The education studies student said: “To beat some of the top players in the UK is fantastic.

“A lot of Britain’s best players train and play at universities, so the BUCS tournament always has great competition.

“It’s great to get a tournament win under my belt at the start of the season and should be a good platform for the year.”

Fowler, who attended Canon Lee Specialist Arts College and York College, partnered England number three and previous BUCS winner Harry Wright in the competition.

The third and fourth seeds breezed through the opening rounds and did not face any tough tests until the semi-finals againsr England under-19 player Peter Briggs and Ryan McCarthy.

A tight affair saw the pairs trade ends until Fowler and Wright clinched the third and deciding game 21-13 to knock out the Loughborough duo.

This set up an encounter in the final with fellow Leeds Met teammates Lim Kenn and Josh Green.

Despite Kenn and Green being more renowned for their singles – both reaching the semi-finals – they put on a great show in the doubles for the Nottingham crowd.

Fowler and Wright lost the opening end 21-19, but bounced right back to take the second end 21-15.

Fowler and Wright were ultimately too much for their teammates as they cruised to take the third game and the gold medal by a convincing 21-9 margin.

Fowler said: “Harry played really well and it was a big boost having someone as experienced as him guiding me through, especially in the semi-final against Briggs and McCarthy.

“It was fun to play Josh and Kenn in the final, we all know how each other plays.

“But that helped us a lot and as soon as we got a lead in the third end I thought we would take it.”

The win was part of a successful weekend for the 19-year-old as he also reached the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event partnered by another Leeds Met student in Sophie Brown.