Durham Tournament: On Saturday at Gateshead stadium the Durham under-17 Tournament took place and in the girls singles Charlotte Heads of Wynyard continued to improve and reached the semi final where she beat Lancashire's Jenny Hayhurst 6.11 11.5 11.4.

In the other semi Yorkshire's Katy McKee beat Northumberland's Stephanie Eddy 11.4 11.5. In the final Charlotte found Katy too strong and lost in straight sets 11.7 and 11.1.

In the boys singles the No 1 seed Sunderland's Adam Coulson dominated long only four points to win his group of four matches. Other local group winners were Iain Defty of Aycliffe and John Paul Cosgrove of Sunderland who met each other in the quarter finals John Paul coming out on top 15.11. In the semi finals John Paul met much improved William Sharp of Ashington who won 15.9 and 15.6. The other semi saw Alasdair MacCorkindale of Lancashire out played by Adam Coulson 15.0 15.1. The final saw William unable to contain Adam who again won 15.0 and 15.1.

The boys doubles saw Sharp and Coulson teamed together for the first time and it proved a winning combination. The semi finals saw them play Alex Scholes (Stockton) and Iain Defty who put up spirited resistance before losing 15.6 15.4. The second semi saw Cosgrove and MacCorkindale meet Scott Carnell (Durham) and Perry Cook (Sunderland) who won a thrilling three set match 15.6 12.15 15.10. Carnell and Cook who are only 15-years-old but already a succesful pairing winning the under 15 National Standard challenge earlier this year met Coulson and Sharp in the final. The older more experienced pair proved too strong for the youngsters winning in straight sets 15.6 15.6.

The girls doubles saw Charlotte Heads and Stephanie Barwick of Durham winning through to the finals beating the more experienced pair from Northumberland of Stephanie Eddy and Sophie Humble 9.15 15.10 15 13. In the other semi Lancashires Amy Ashrafi and Jenny Hayhurst beat Yorkshire's Rachel Iveson and Katy McKee 15.11 15.11. In the final the Lancashire girls proved just too strong for the Durham pair and won through 15.13 10.15 15.11 in a very close game.

The mixed doubles again saw Coulson playing outstanding badminton as he and his partner Sophie Humble won through to the semi final without conceeding a point. In the semi final they met Scott Carnell and Jennifer Blewitt (Aycliffe) and beat them 15.1 15.3. In the other semi William Sharp and Stephanie Eddy had a close win over Lancashire's Richard Wallbank and Jenny Hayhurst 11.15 15.4 15.9 . The final again saw Coulson on top form as he and Sophie beat Sharp and Eddy 15.4 and 15.4 to end a very successful day for the Sunderland boy.