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Inverness badminton player called up to Scotland squad for European Under-17 Championships in Slovenia


By Will Clark

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SOPHIE Barrie has been called up to the Scotland squad which will compete at the European Under-17 Badminton Championships in Slovenia.

Sophie Barrie has been called by Scotland for the European Championships.
Sophie Barrie has been called by Scotland for the European Championships.

The Inverness City Badminton Club star is one of eight players selected for Scotland who will travel to Podcetrtek in September.

One of the top players in Scotland in her age group, Barrie (16) has been competing locally and nationally for a number of years.

Two years ago, she was part of the national junior development squad, which has since been replaced with regional performance squads.

This will be the first time the Inverness Royal Academy pupil will compete in international competition.

She is looking forward to taking on the best badminton players in Europe.

“I have never competed abroad before,” said the fifth year pupil.

“So I am just looking to give a really good performance and be a really good asset for the team.”

Going into lockdown last year, Barrie was among the top six girls for her age group in the national rankings in all disciplines, which includes singles, doubles and mixed.

Due to COVID and lack of recent competitions, Badminton Scotland decided to hold two selection weekends and the top 16 boys and 16 girls were invited to trial.

Her father David, who is also her coach and founder of Inverness City Badminton Club, found out before she did that she was selected and decided to keep it as a surprise.

“I was at the gym when my dad received an email that I’d been selected,” she said.

“But he didn’t tell me until I got home. When I got home there was balloons and a congratulations sign waiting for me which was nice.”

The team event runs from Friday, September 3 to Tuesday, September 7 and the individual event from Tuesday, September 7 to Sunday, September 12.


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