BADMINTON ace Nicola Cerfontyne was left thrilled after winning her second women’s singles title at the English National Championships today.

The Bournemouth-born player, who last secured national glory in 2011, defeated number one seed Fontaine Chapman 2-0 (24-22, 21-19) at K2 Crawley.

Cerfontyne, the number two seed, suffered late scares in both games but held her nerve despite fierce fightbacks from her opponent.

The former Wentworth College pupil told Badminton England TV: “I’m extremely happy to win this title again because it’s been a while since the last one. It’s nice to put my name back on the trophy.

“I just wanted to make sure that I played my game. Me and Fontaine play each other a lot in practice and we know each other’s games inside out.

“I knew if I could just get the shuttle back then she would have to make a mistake or I would have to hit a winner.

“I will keep training hard and next year, hopefully, I can win this title again.”

The 27-year-old, who saw off fifth seed Lydia Powell in the semis, got off to a flyer in front of an expectant crowd.

She charged into a 7-2 lead in the opener as unforced errors from Chapman proved costly.

However, the Coventry player then found her range and a number of impressive winners helped her to work her way back into the contest at 19-19.

Cerfontyne survived a game point and then wrapped up the opener when her smash was prodded limply into the net by Chapman.

The pair had last met three weeks previously at the Swedish Masters and Cerfontyne was clearly determined to avenge the defeat she had suffered that day.

She marched into a 10-4 lead in the second as Chapman appeared to grow progressively more frustrated with the Dorset star’s consistent approach.

Cerfontyne moved 18-12 ahead and seemed on course for a routine victory, only for Chapman to pull it back to 18-17.

Two points from Cerfontyne afforded her three attempts at glory and a miscued swipe from Chapman on the third match point handed Cerfontyne the title.