HEREFORDSHIRE Badminton Academy had a team enter an Under-17s Inter-County tournament where they competed against the best players from other counties.

Despite being the second smallest county, the team of five girls and five boys showed a vast improvement in their performance from last year.

For one of the days, Herefordshire were missing Chad Warren, who was selected to compete in the Under-13 nationals, which was being held on the same weekend.

The final match ended in a thrilling 5-5 draw against Shropshire.

Andy Hartley, the head coach of the Badminton England Performance Centre in Worcester, said he was so impressed by the progress Herefordshire are making, that he is considering running a session in Hereford once a week to fast track the players' development.

Meanwhile, the Under-13s recently played Powys County in a friendly badminton match.

Sisters Georgia and Alex Essenhigh and Felicity and Bethany Preston played games of singles, girls doubles and mixed doubles.

The other members of the team were James Beaumont, Abraham Thomas, Oliver and Beren Griffiths, Joel Howless and Harry Sockett.