TWO junior badminton players from South Gloucestershire struck gold at the South West U15 Badminton Championships in St Austell.

Paul McCrimmond and Cavan Evans, who have represented Avon County for the past four years, took first place by dominating the under-15 Boys Doubles Event.

The 14-year-olds are Year 9 and 10 pupils at Marlwood and Castle Schools respectively.

Both players picked themselves up from the disappointment of the U15 singles event, McCrimmond losing in the semi-final and Evans in the final, both to Tyler Sillifant from Cornwall.

McCrimmond and Evans played all the other doubles pairings in the competition.

Showing some great form, they won all six of their matches.

The pair sailed through their first four matches with relative ease, winning 21-6, 21-12, 21-12 and 21-8.

Their first real test came against fellow Avon players, Alex Robinson and Dom Oddy.

McCrimmond and Evans were losing 18-17 and facing what would have been a shock defeat.

However, some stellar serving by McCrimmond and creative attacking play from Evans secured the next four points and they sealed a fifth straight win with a 21-18 scoreline.

On paper, their next match was the toughest the boys would face against Sillifant (Cornwall) and Lloyd Skinner (Devon).

However, McCrimmond and Evans started well and some aggressive play saw them race into a 5-0 lead.

After a few swaps of serve, they again showed their dominance with McCrimmond displaying some attacking flair and Evans showing great defensive play.

The match was soon won 21-12 and the gold medal was in the bag.

Although still training four times a week, the boys are now enjoying a well earned break from competition and will step up onto the U17 circuit after summer.