LOUISE Trueman from Harrowgate Hill, Darlington has started the new badminton season in fine form.

The new Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College student was runner-up in the under 17 premier standard singles at both the Liverpool Open and the Yorkshire Open recently.

She was also runner-up in the mixed doubles at the ESBA North East Tournament in Gateshead.

Wins over Erica Whittingham of Staffordshire, Merseyside's Helen Davis and Catherine Goodall in York were followed by a defeat in two ends by the host county's Jessica White in the final.

In Liverpool, Davis stopped her progress after victories against Becky Howell and Kissy Koselgi of Merseyside.

The Durham player, partnered by Adam Coulson from Sunderland, surprisingly knocked out Scotland's Stuart Gilliland and Imogen Banker in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles in Gateshead by 15-17, 15-13, 15-9, before going down in the final to David Askew (Suffolk) and Naomi Bailey (Northumberland).

Coulson defeated Yorkshire's Luke Brudenell for his first title of the season in the standard level singles and acquired enough points to qualify for premier level competitions for the next two years. He had knocked out players from Greater Manchester, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in earlier rounds.

Brudenell, from Brompton, near Northallerton, was thwarted in his attempt for an early season hat-trick of honours after winning the titles in York and Liverpool.

Peter Williams, from Barnard Castle, already a premier level competitor, beat the favourite in his round robin group, but managed no more wins and failed to progress further in Gateshead.

Two Darlington boys, Matthew Blewitt and David Shariff, played the standard level and won one match each.