Competing out of Redhill, Shevin delivered a career-best performance at the SBA U15 Silver tournament held on 7 June at Bartholomew Sports Centre in Oxfordshire, winning both the mixed doubles and boys’ singles titles.
In the mixed doubles, Shevin partnered with Huayi Xu. The pair found their rhythm early and played confidently throughout the group stage, winning all three matches in straight sets. Their campaign included a standout win against the top seeds, which put them straight into the final. Holding their nerve, they closed out the final in two sets to take the title.
“She was very good for all of our games,” Shevin said after the win. “We won them all in straight sets, including beating the number one seed.”
The singles draw proved to be a much tougher path, but Shevin rose to the challenge. He started by edging out the Bulgarian number one in three close sets, then followed that with another hard-fought win against a seeded player. His final match in the group was more straightforward, winning in straight sets. The knockout rounds brought tougher seeded opponents, but Shevin kept his composure. He beat the second seed in the quarter-finals and came through a long three-set semi-final against one of the third-fourth seeds. In the final, he stepped up again, winning 21–13, 21–12 to secure the gold.
“My first game I had to play against the Bulgarian number one and I won in three sets with a very close match,” he said. “The final was going to be quite tough, but I managed to win in straight sets.”
In boys’ doubles, Shevin teamed up with Jonathan Theivendran. They looked strong in the opening rounds, taking two wins in straight sets. In their final match, they led 13–7 in the deciding game but couldn’t close it out, eventually losing 17–15. It was a disappointing finish, but the pair showed real potential.
“We did well together,” Shevin said. “Against the better pair, we unfortunately lost in three sets. We were 13–7 up in the last set and lost 17–15. Very sad to finish it off.”
It was a strong result for a Redhill badminton player competing at national level. Reflecting on the weekend, Shevin said his smashes, drops, deception and movement were working well for him throughout the day. Looking ahead, he aims to focus on improving his defense against smashes and drops in singles.
He now prepares for another U15 Silver tournament next week, where he’ll be partnering with Hayden Lau from Surrey in the boys’ doubles and competing again in singles. With his current form, it promises to be another exciting weekend.
It was another step forward for the Redhill badminton junior, who’s been building experience across the circuit.
Shevin is one of several Albury Junior Badminton players regularly competing on the national circuit. If you’re interested in learning more about what’s involved in competing regularly, feel free to get in touch.
Full results are available here.
