JASON Ou marked the return of junior tournament badminton in style with an excellent gold medal at the Birmingham Under 19 event.

The coronavirus pandemic had put competitions on hold for 15 months, but the Oxfordshire Under 16 player showed no signs of rustiness.

Ou claimed six straight wins to take boys’ singles gold, beating the seeded Isum Arachchige of Buckinghamshire 21-17, 13-21, 21-20 in an epic 99-minute contest.

Oxfordshire Under 17 player Adam Burden reached the semi-final, but was edged out in three ends.

At the Dorset Under 17 competition, Bicester’s Anthony Peverell lost in the boys’ singles semi-finals, while Ryan Tao, from Oxford, claimed Under 15 mixed doubles bronze alongside Yorkshire’s Yawei Li in Milton Keynes.