TALENTED badminton player Luke Brudenell made a promising debut as an England competitor during the weekend.

The Northallerton College student won two of the three doubles matches that he played in the team event against Denmark, Holland and Sweden, at the tournament in Wimbledon on Friday.

In the individual two-day event that followed, 15-year-old Luke, from Brompton, won through to the quarter-finals of both the mixed doubles and men's doubles, beating two sets of opponents on the way in both categories.

In his only singles match, Luke unfortunately found himself up against the top seed in the tournament, a Dane who is ranked number one in Europe, and lost.

"It is all about experience. I've wanted to play at this level and really enjoyed it. I felt I gave a reasonable good account of myself," said Luke.

His mother, Helen, travelled to Wimbledon on Saturday and had an enjoyable day watching him play.

"Naturally I was immensely proud of him and I know he has worked hard to get this far," she said.

"To play for England, whether you win, lose or draw, was a wonderful experience for him."

Alistair Macrae, joint head of PE at the college, encouraged Luke to start playing badminton four-and-a-half years ago and has seen him go from strength to strength.

"I am very pleased at how he is doing and I believe there is definitely a talent there that could go further," he said. "Luke has a lot of ability and he is a very powerful athlete."

Luke will play in one more tournament this season, travelling to Milton Keynes in a few weeks for the Junior Challenger Final.