Joel Douse was crowned Integral Collection Classic (Tees Valley – Yorkshire) Senior Gold men’s singles winner after local top seed Josh Young suffered an early exit.
Douse from Buckinghamshire beat Alan Clarkson 21-10 21-5 in the final of the event held at Thornaby Pavilion, Teesside.
Young,22, from Marske-by-the-Sea, began as tournament favourite but was beaten by Ben Hunt 21-17 21-15 in the second round.
Men’s singles champion, Douse, 19, said: “I’m pleased, my aim was to win a Gold this year and now I’ve managed to win two in a row now so I’m very pleased.”
Defending champion Clarkson had beat seed James Farmer en route to the final but struggled with injury throughout the final.
Douse said: “It was a bit disappointing because I was looking forward to playing him.
“I’ve seen him play over the years, I think he beat me here last year, but I just had to go on and do my job and win the game.”
Clarkson said: “I am happy to get to the final winning the first round was a main goal so anything after that was a bonus I’m happy.
“I’d call it old age. After my first game I came off and it just got a bit achy and stiff and unfortunately I couldn’t get it working again.”
Young, who trains at the Teesside Performance Centre in Thornaby, is ranked ninth in England and was looking for his first win on the Senior Gold circuit in the tournament.
The 22-year-old said: “I came into the tournament with high hopes of winning it. It was just one of those days really, I didn’t play that bad he just played better on the day and was finding the lines.
Young, who reached the quarter-finals of the English National Championships earlier this year, said he didn’t think the pressure of being top seed affected him.
He said: “Not really, I like being top seed because everyone is out there to beat you.
“I felt a bit of pressure being on home turf and the expectation to win it, but I don’t think it bothered me that much.”
Douse’s second consecutive Senior Gold win began with a win over Chris Driver-Bellis, before triumphs over Patrick Adair and Adam Dolman.
For full details of results from the event click here.
North East Badminton 