BADMINTON star Fontaine Chapman has her sights set on going out with a bang at her third and final BUCS Nationals in Sheffield.
The 25-year-old has enjoyed a busy 12 months which has seen England’s top ranked female player make her World Championships debut in Denmark last August where she narrowly lost out to Commonwealth champion Michelle Li in the first round.
And most recently Champan made the women’s singles final at the English National Championships last month before falling to Nicola Cerfontyne in straight sets.
But she will aim to get back to winning ways later this month at the BUCS Nationals which get underway in Sheffield on February 20.
And with one last outing at the Championships before graduating from Leeds Beckett University, Chapman is aiming big.
“I would like to win the BUCS Nationals this year, it’s my last year so I want to go out on a bang.” said Chapman, who is a former pupil at Ernesford Grange Community Academy.
“There are a lot of good competitors this year, there are a few national singles players so it’s not going to be easy but ill give it my best shot.
“My form in the past year has been great; I am the highest ranked English singles number one in England.
“It was great to play in the World Championships, obviously it still hurts to lose, everyone wants to win but I lost to a Commonwealth champion so it wasn’t too bad.
“I got into the European Mixed Team Championship and just missed out in the final of the National Championship – it’s been a really good year so far and hopefully that can continue at BUCS.”
Chapman splits her time between her house in Leeds, whilst studying journalism at Leeds Beckett University, and the national badminton training centre in Milton Keynes where she trains for Team GB and England.
Despite being a rising star on the England badminton circuit, Chapman has had a mixed couple of years at the BUCS competitions, missing out for two years due to injury before bagging singles gold and ladies doubles bronze back in 2013.
Last year she made it all the way to the singles final but had to pull out through exhaustion, although she is intent on turning the tables this time around, with her focus mainly on the singles competition.
She added: “Last year at BUCS I was going to the European Championships for England and I was just exhausted and I was playing a girl from Leeds University, we trained together so I was like it’s fine, you can have this one but I want to win this time around.
“My plan for when I’ve finished at Leeds Beckett is to move down to Milton Keynes and become a full time professional badminton player.”
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, representing more than 150 institutions. Covering 52 sports BUCS aids grass roots participation through to supporting aspiring elite athletes on en route to Commonwealth or Olympic Games www.bucs.org.uk
