FOR all Ethan Rose has achieved in 2017, the memory of sleeping in a Belgian car park stands out most vividly, writes JAMES ROBERTS.

The badminton player, who turned 15 this week, reached the main draw of the Yonex Belgian International tournament in September – his best performance at a senior world tour event.

But Rose and his family had not banked on him winning his three qualifying matches, leaving them with nowhere to stay before his first round match the next day.

He said: “We hadn’t booked any accommodation for that night, so we ended up sleeping in our motorhome in the car park of the venue.

“I went there expecting to possibly get through one round of qualifying, so it was pretty surreal.”

The Oakley resident did not disgrace himself in the first round, losing 21-12 21-12 to eventual winner Lee Cheuk Yiu.

Rose (right) has become accustomed to playing senior opponents in national and international events, but admits the tournament in Belgium was a culture shock.

He said: “It was my first time playing in a proper arena, with a capacity of 7,000 people.

“I’d never been introduced properly onto court before, or had proper referees and line judges.

“Some of the courts were being streamed on TV and I played on the next door court to a former world number two.

“I learned a lot from the experience of the place and playing with people of that calibre.”

Despite the teenager’s international success, Rose’s domestic achievements are no less impressive.

Earlier this year he won the boys singles and doubles events at the u15 national championships.

But the youngster is not getting ahead of himself ahead of this month’s awards night.

He said: “I haven’t really thought about winning. It would be really overwhelming to see my achievements recognised to that degree.”