LIFE on the badminton court begins at 60 - ask Cumbria Over-60s team who have just won through to two showpiece English finals in the space of a week.

"It's down to the hills!"says Cumbria captain Graham Dixon.

"We all get out and do a bit of hill-walking and cycling and that helps a lot.

"We're not necessarily super-fit, but we've kept very active and we travel about and play the tournament circuit together.

"Sometimes in these type of matches you see competitors introduced to their team-mates for the first time on court.

"But we've stayed together, know each other as friends and this is our heyday."

The Over-60s were one of Cumbria's veteran teams competing at all age levels at the Northern Region Inter-County Veterans Championships at Stanley in County Durham.

While Cumbria's Over-40s and Over-45s posted their best performances in the event to date, the Over-60s - oldest member 67 - stole the show again by winning all their matches to seal a place in the national finals, at Telford, for the second year running.

It included impressive wins over major counties such as Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

In the Inter-County League, the Over-40s team captained by Malcolm Grayshon (Workington) and the Over-45s captained by Don Miller (Kendal) have lost only one match this season.

However, Cumbria's Over-60s made it a memorable week for them with a 10-2 win over Cheshire at Chester to go through to the League finals at Milton Keynes.

Recognition of the success came when England selected three of its members, Eileen Crossley (Burneside), Monica Irvine (Kent) and John Oliver (Branthwaite) to play Scotland on February 9 at Preston.

Two others, Marian McFegan and Graham Dixon, are reserves, with the rest of the successful Under-60s being Doreen Mattinson (Keswick), Cameron McCallum (Barrow) and Ron Peden (Bowness).