England's number one U17 badminton player Leona Lee is back competing after a 15-month hiatus due to lockdown.

Leona, who is 16 and from Letchworth, played her first Badminton England tournament in the U19 Gold Birmingham 2021 and won silver in the gold star singles event. Two weeks later she was seeded number one in both gold star singles and girls doubles in the U17 Gold Birmingham 2021.

She powered her way through to reach both finals by not dropping a single game throughout the tournament, clinched the singles title and won her second gold with doubles partner Chloe Dennis from Suffolk.

Her next tournament is the Senior Gold Milton Keynes 2021, and she is aiming for a place in the U19 World Junior Championships in China in October.

Leona, who attends Hitchin Girls' and is a Victor-sponsored athlete, said: "I have been training extremely hard since March and I can see the good results I am achieving from my last two tournaments.

"I would like to thank SportsAid for their continued financial support and North Herts leisure centre for giving me free access to courts for my training and the use of their state of the art gym”.