The tournament was a huge boost to the sport in this country,
with top Welsh players demonstrating their talents against international
opponents.
Women’s doubles duo Carissa Turner and Sarah Thomas took gold,
with Thomas also celebrating victory with Oliver Gwilt in the mixed doubles.
The men’s doubles saw Joe Morgan and Nic Strange completing Wales’ gold medal
haul.
Turner and Thomas defeated the home Cypriot pair of Maria
Avraamidou and Stella Knekna 21-14, 21-13 in the final of the women’s doubles.
Turner then went on to take silver in the women’s singles
after being beaten at the final hurdle by Bulgaria’s world No49 Linda Zetchiri.
Thomas’ second competition fared one better, as her and
Gwilt overcame Belgium’s Nathan Vervaeke and Sabine Devooght 21-10, 21-17 for
their debut tournament win in only their first year together.
Thomas said: “I am really pleased with my two wins in Cyprus
this weekend. It was great to go away and all do so well as a team, showing all
our hard work over the past year is paying off.”
Morgan and Strange faced English opposition in the final,
and Sam Parsons and Rhys Walker took them to three sets before finally
succumbing 22-24, 21-19, 17-21 to leave Wales with its third gold.
Morgan said: “It was great to get back on the winning trail
again and gives us a confidence boost ahead of the nationals this weekend.”
Things could have been even better for Wales, but Daniel
Font turned his ankle over in the warm up and was forced to pull out of the
singles event, as well as the men’s doubles alongside Gwilt.
The players can now look forward to the Yonex Welsh National
Badminton Championships at the Sport Wales Centre in Cardiff this weekend, with
home favourites in action on both Saturday and Sunday.
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