The profile does not quite fit the bill exactly of the top echelon of Australian talent out there playing the game.

The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics survey of Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation figured that over the last five years 100,000 had participated in the sport one way or another.

That probably puts Darcy Webster-Jones in the leading 0.00025 per cent to hold onto a racquet and a shuttlecock.

Achieving that is tougher still in that until this week the only exposure to experienced players, coming straight out of junior ranks, was trolling the courts of Hobart.

"In our local A, everyone knows everyone," he said.

"We really just know each other's game and know how they all play."

Webster-Jones initially lost in the opening round of the Australian championships, but just as quickly bounced back all the way through the consolation rounds to reach the final on the last day of being 16 before his birthday.

In the end, the final result wasn't the gift he counted on, going down in a 24-22 21-18 loss to Victorian Nelson Oon.

The Malaysian-born Oon is a revered coach in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

For Webster-Jones at least, the lessons taught on Thursday is one the teen can store away for their next meeting.

The tournament finish was as far as any Tasmanian got at the nationals. That's not only male and the singles, but also female, mixed or doubles.

ELSEWHERE IN SPORT

"I was pretty nervous, but pretty excited too at the same time because this is my first time here. I just wanted to get more experience," he said.

To put all that experience into perspective, 39-year-old veteran Brent Munday has been representing Tasmania as long as Webster-Jones has been alive, let alone playing.

When it comes down to turning the clock back years, Munday would have shared a court with his teammate's badminton-playing mum.

It took until reaching nine years of age for the diminutive player to step aside from the obstacles of playing football, soccer, cricket and tennis to follow in her footsteps.

"I remember playing for a few years, loving playing this little junior roster," he said.

"Then after that, I decided to start training properly."

That aided Webster-Jones to play 10 matches in just two days in singles and doubles.

It has delivered a different perspective on the sport that is continuing to grow on him by every one of his matches.

"They seem to be pretty quick, but the pace is also different depending on each player," Webster-Jones said.

"Everyone seems to be a lot more consistent in their playing style and they know what they are here to do.

"Some players are here to rally, rally, rally and some are here to play more attacking shots on their opponents.

"But everyone knows their play well and it's quite hard to counter that if you don't know them at all."

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