ATHERTON badminton ace Gary Fox has targeted a repeat of last season's national league title glory.

The Birmingham Lions player made a successful return to action on Monday night as the third season of the AJ Bell National Badminton League kicked off at the home of the defending champions.

Fox's team began their title defence with a comfortable 4-1 victory over the newly-formed Suffolk Saxons, with the 26-year-old local player contributing a point thanks to his men’s doubles win with Rasmus Fladberg.

The new pairing beat Andy Ellis and Johnnie Torjussen 3-0, giving Fox hope of the Lions retaining the championship.

“We’re trying to defend our title this year," he said.

"Last year was a bit of a surprise for us, we didn’t expect to win but we ended up doing that.

“This year we want to retain our title. We’ve got a good strong team so fingers crossed.

“When we won the final match last season, the feeling of winning was incredible. We didn’t actually have to play our final event but that feeling of winning and lifting the trophy was incredible and we want to repeat that.”

On the opening-day match, he added: "It went well for us

"I’ve been here for three years now but with a new partnership you never really know how it’s going to go.

"But it couldn’t have gone better for us really."

For fixtures, tickets and team news, visit: www.nationalbadmintonleague.co.uk or follow @NBL_official on Twitter