TEENAGE badminton star Charlotte Graham has started the new season on top form after recovering from an ankle injury.

The Hexham schoolgirl won her first national singles title with success at a Badminton England U17 Bronze Circuit event at Thornaby. After notching up a wealth of doubles honours in recent years, Charlotte has been working hard to show her capabilities in the singles game.

She defeated rivals from Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Northumberland, including a convincing 21-14 victory over the tournament’s number two seed.

This set up a final against the number one seed, and she came back from 11-7 down at the interval to win gold with a superb 21-17 victory.

The youngster, who has worked to increase her speed, power, agility and resilience, said: “I just felt I had more energy today and decided to go for everything. I’ve been working on my fitness and technique, and I’m enjoying playing singles badminton again.”

At the same event, Charlotte teamed up with regular partner Amy Ward in the girls’ doubles, and won silver medals after a 21-12 victory over a pair from Lancashire in the semi-finals. They missed out on gold after a narrow 21-18 defeat in the final.

The achievements in Thornaby came just a week after Charlotte won gold in a U19 Bronze Circuit event in Newcastle.

She teamed up with another regular badminton partner, Tim Bodani, to win gold in the mixed doubles B category.

After negotiating the group stages, the pair won a thrilling final 23-21. Charlotte was full of praise for other Northumberland junior players who competed in the recent tournaments.

With injury behind her, she is ready for the new season.