Linda Wood, from Smisby, followed success in the 2024 Europeans and 2025 World Seniors Championships with two medals at the 2026 European Championships in Sardinia.

This year's Championships was the largest badminton event to have been staged in Europe with 1756 players from 35 countries. Played over nine days across three very different halls, the players had high temperatures & high humidity to contend with.

Linda took Silver in the ladies singles, beating second seed Heidi Bender from Germany in a tight 3 set semi-final before meeting current World Champion and ultimately 2026 triple European champion, Maria Brzenicka from Poland in the final.

In the mixed doubles Linda and her partner Dave Gribble from Avon took Bronze; they beat the top seeds from Scotland, Dan Travers and Christine Black, in the quarterfinal before succumbing to Heidi Bender and Rolf Russell from Germany in the semifinal.

Linda was very pleased with her successes and enjoyed the competitive badminton and camaraderie these events provide between players from across the globe. She is looking forward to the chance of playing in next year's World Championships which are being held in Australia.