Cambs III Flying High

Cambridgeshire IIIrd team hosted Lincolnshire IInds at the weekend, in their last Badminton England Inter County Championship Division 5C match. A repeat of their 10-5 away win before Christmas would pip long time leaders Bedfordshire II by a point and clinch the division title.

Graham Barr and Josh Males (J) opened proceedings in the first and second mens singles and got the match off to a perfect start, both winning comfortably in straight sets. Kate Marshall at first singles matched the men with a good straight sets win, but Laurel Bennett was unlucky to lose in two very closely fought sets. 3-1 to Cambs, 7 more games needed.

Graham and Josh teamed up as first pair in the first round of mens doubles and continued their strong form with a convincing win over their opposite numbers. Will Hodgkinson and Damien Dugmore at second pair came back strongly after dropping the first set against the Lincs second pair to win the second end to 9, but a few crucial errors in the third saw victory slip frustratingly away. Kate combined with Sharon Chandler at first ladies pair and battled well in a long three-ender against the Lincs first pair, but eventually lost a very close third end. Laurel and Lisa Lim were not troubled at second pair, winning in straight sets. This left the score at 5-3 to Cambs with 5 more games needed from the remaining 7. It was going to be close.

The men kept hopes high as both Graham and Josh, and Will and Damien came through long three set games to record wins, with Will and Damien improving all the time and eventually dispatching the Lincs first pair to 9 in the third. The ladies continued the momentum although Kate and Sharon had to work hard to overcome a strong display by the Lincs second pair. Laurel and Lisa again showed strong form, winning in straight sets. With the score now at 9-3 to Cambs the match was won, but the team still needed one from the three remaining mixed games to gain maximum points and clinch the division.

Playing out of order, Damien and Lisa at third pair started first and after very close first set edged it 21-19. The second set continued in a similar vein with both pairs producing some fine badminton but neither able to pull out a lead. At 20-20 the pairs were still locked together, but eventually Damien and Lisa broke the deadlock and pulled out the crucial two point gap to win the game 26-24 and secure the division win! With the pressure off, Graham and Kate at first pair struggled against the Lincs first pair and lost in two, but Sharon and Josh at second were able to finish off the match in style winning in three.

This fine win means that Cambs IIIrds are now in the divisional playoffs to fight for promotion into ICC division 4. These games will be played on the 21st and 28th of April, the opponents TBD.

More information about results of the Cambs III team is available on the Team Page.

IIIrd Team Continue in Promotion Hunt

Cambridgeshire IIIrd team travelled to Wellingborough to take on Northamptonshire IIIrds last weekend for their penultimate ICC Division 5C match. A repeat of their 12-3 home win at the start of the season would keep the pressure on division leaders Bedfordshire II.

Geoff Green and Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian (J) (winning his first senior cap) opened proceedings in the first and second mens singles respectively and got the match off to a perfect start, both winning comfortably in straight sets. The ladies were equally dominant as both Kate Marshall at first singles and Laurel Bennett at second won in straight sets. 4-0 to Cambs.

The first round of mens doubles continued in a similar vein, with both first pair Will Hodgkinson and Josh Males (J) and second pair Geoff and Kaylan beating their opposing Nhants pairs in straight sets. Yet again the ladies matched the men by winning both first round ladies as Kate and Jess James (J), and Laurel and Lisa Lim were not troubled, winning in straight sets. 8-0 to Cambs.

With the match victory already in the bag, talk turned to the possibility of a whitewash. The men kept our hopes high with only Geoff and Kaylan dropping a set in the return doubles games and so securing all 3 points. Kate and Jess also dispatched the Nhants ladies 2nd pair in straight sets and the team watched with baited breath as Laurel and Lisa battled against the Nhants 1st pair in a long 3 setter. Eventually though it became clear that we had jinxed the whitewash, as they fell behind in the final end eventually losing to 9. 11-1 to Cambs.

With the match won and all the points decided the team could have relaxed, but instead maintained their level and took all three of the mixed games. First pair Will and Kate battled away for 3 long sets to eventually win to 11 in the 3rd. Second pair Josh and Lisa cruised through both of their games in two comfortable sets and Geoff and Laurel wrapped things up by winning in 3 at 3rd. The 14-1 win is a great result for the team and keeps the pressure on Beds. Special mention must go to Kaylan for a great display in his first senior county match. I’m confident there will be many more to come!

!! STOP PRESS !!

It seems the pressure finally got to Bedfordshire as they managed to lose their final match of the season 8-7 to Lincs II. This means that a 10-5 or better win for Cambs III against Lincs II on Sunday 4th March will give Cambs III the league title and put them into the playoffs!

More information about results of the Cambs III team is available on the Team Page.

Cambs I Continue Fight to Avoid Drop

Cambs Ist team went into the crunch match against Oxfordshire Ists needing to win to try and stay in the division. The reverse result of an 8–7 loss at home gave us hope. For once we took a couple of mens singles specialists, newcomer to the team Min Dabasinkas showed great determination but eventually lost 19-21, 21-19, 19-21 to Jack Smith. Tom Li brought up from the IInd team also making his debut showed his potential, but also lost 11-21, 18-21. Nat Taylor put in a great display beating Oxfordshire's number one singles player 21-16, 25-23 - a great result after losing to her at home. In the final singles, Olga Bryant won her first game 21-11, but her opponent started to play much better and eventually she lost in 3 ends.

This left us 3-1 down going into the doubles the same score as when we played them at home, Neil Place and Simon Woodhouse, went on against Oxford's first pair and struggled to get into the game, losing 14-21, 13-21.  Sam Scharf and Dan Bates, showed fight and determination but eventually lost 15-21, 18-21. The Ladies didn’t fair much better with Nat Taylor and Sara Mason losing a close first end 20-22, and then struggling in the second end losing 10-21. In the final doubles, Olga Bryant and Hannah Sharman had a long battle with Oxford's 2nd pair but eventually lost 19-21, 15-21.

This left us 7-1 down going into the reverse doubles.  After a brief 'we can still win this' speech by Sam, we went in with renewed determination.  Neil and Simon fought through a tough first game to win 21-17, completely lost concentration in the second and lost 7-21, however recovered and won in three to a final score of 21-16. Dan and Sam showed equal determination losing the first end 16-21, fighting back to win the second 23-21, but unfortunately losing the 3rd game 11-21. The ladies showed equal grit and determination with Nat and Sara showing their class by winning 21-17, 21-16. Unfortunately Olga and Hannah faced an uphill battle against Oxford’s 1st’s and lost against high class opponents 12-21, 16-21.

This meant to get a point we needed all 3 mixed games to go our way. First victory came from the 3rd pair of Sara and Neil who comfortably won 21-12, 21-7. Second game off was the new 1st pair of Sam and Nat, who unfortunately couldn’t overcome a strong Oxford 1st pair losing 13-21, 16-21. This left second new pair of Simon and Olga fighting in a epic game which they eventually won 21-19, 19-21, 21-19.

This means we now need to win our next 2 games 10-5 or better to stay in the division, Bring on Herts.

Neil Place - Captain

More information about results of the Cambs I team is available on the Team Page.

U11 and U13 Fun Tournament for Juniors and New Players

If you're a budding U11 or U13 badminton player, there's another upcoming Fun Tournament at Burwell on 17th March from 12 noon.

You do not necessarily need to be in a club already to play in a fun tournament. If you want to give the sport a try, or have played at school and enjoyed it, this is a great introduction to a little competition.

For more details see the entry form. There should be some really fun badminton for lots of potential badminton stars!

O40's in Enjoyable Essex Whitewash

On Sunday 29th January, the Over 40s travelled to Essex in their return match after losing 10-2 earlier in the season, the Cambs team were hoping for a better result.

The Essex team were once again extremely strong, and the match was as brief as this write up.

In the Mens Doubles Essex won all 4 rubbers, with Les Pratt and Kevin Barron winning one end. The other pairing of Nick Pratt/Neil Mortimer losing both match in close two ends.

The ladies did not fare much better, with Amanda Godfrey/Tracy Bichener and Sharon Chandler/Janet Farrington losing both their rubbers in 2 ends.

Although 8–0 going into the mixed, we were fighting for pride, and to see who could at least win a rubber.

1st Pairing – Kevin/Sharon going down in 2 ends
2nd Pairing – Nick/Amanda going down in 2 close ends
3rd Pairing – Les/Janet going down in 2 ends
4th Pairing – Neil/Tracy going down in 3 ends

Final match score was 12–0 to Essex, although the games were very enjoyable.

More information about results of the Cambs O40 team is available on the Team Page.

Cambs Senior Silver Circuit Tournament: Cambs' Sara Mason Triumphs in Mixed

Cambridgeshire's Badminton England Senior Silver Circuit Open Tournament was held at CRC on Friday and Saturday.

The mens singles largely followed the seeding, with Worcestershire's Richard Wrigley beating third seed Christopher Gilbert (Middlesex) in the final. However, with the withdrawal of first seed Emily Jeffs (Buckinghamshire) in the ladies singles, second seed Toni Blake (Buckinghamshire) eventually triumphed against a sturdy challenge from Mary Le Druillenec (Warwickshire), having also beaten Cambridgeshire's Natalie Taylor in a three-ended quarter final.

In the mens doubles, despite some long, exciting and close games, none of Cambridgeshire's pairs progressed beyond the second round. The surprise came when only the fourth seeds Dean George (Sussex) and Chris Tonks (Warwickshire) reached the finals, where they enjoyed a convincing victory against Ian Murphy (Norfolk) and James White (Leicestershire).

The ladies doubles also saw Cambridgeshire's players struggling to impose themselves against strong opposition, and unexpected unseeded victors in Kelly Holdway (Hampshire) and Claire Milward (Warwickshire) who defeated second seeds Toni Blake (Buckinghamshire) and Bethany Jeffs (Buckinghamshire) in a nailbiting 21-19 24-22 final.

Finally, it was in the mixed doubles where Cambridgeshire found success, with Sara Mason teaming up with former Warwickshire partner Chris Tonks to resoundingly defeat third seeds James and Bernie Babington (Yorkshire) 21-9 21-8.

Overall, this year's tournament was of a very high standard, with some excellent performances from a very strong field over a couple of days of truly exciting badminton.

The full results are available online.

You can also now see the entries on the BE Tournament Website.

Cambs II Claim New Year Warks Victory

After quite a long journey to an away venue, and a rocky start in the singles, it looked for a short period like the Cambs IInd team were going to be in a long tough day when they travelled to play the Warwickshire IVth team on Sunday 22nd January.

With their sights set on promotion this season, the team were looking to reproduce their commanding form when they won the home leg of this match 15-0. However, with James Wilson, Katie Morton and debutante Geoff Green all losing their singles, it was clear that Warwickshire were resolved to put up more of a fight. Geoff and Katie struggled against tricky singles opponents and lost in straight games, while James took a close first end, before having the game slip away to a more experienced and patient singles player. A ray of hope was offered by Molly Carter (J), who commandingly dispatched her opponent 21-12 21-9 with her usual mix of power and apparently complete relaxation.

Thankfully though, as the doubles began it became clear that Cambs were coming into their own. Skipper Daniel Bates teamed up with James as they imposed themselves powerfully and won both doubles games comfortably in straight games. Molly and Liz Salmon, and Katie and Jessica Sharman (J) both look like pairs who are getting familiar with playing together this season, and won all four of the ladies doubles also in straight games and with convincing scores. This despite being surprised to find themselves facing Cambs alumn Lauren Pickering – representing Warwickshire for her first time since attending Birmingham University. Geoff teamed up with Paul Martell, but under match pressure they struggled to gel quickly enough. Although the beat the second mens’ pairing, they could not overcome the first.

That left Cambs with a 9-4 lead going into the mixed discipline, and needing the last game to ensure the bonus point needed to maintain the title challenge. With two courts available, James and Katie and Daniel and Jessica went on together. Daniel and Jessica held their nerve to win through in straight games. James and Katie lost their first end 19-21, but then settled into their game together to win comfortably in three. Liz and Paul then took to the court, safe in the knowledge that all the points were safe, and cruised to a very comfortable two game win.

So with that win, Cambridgeshire remain in the promotion hunt. Both Lincolnshire and Northants are competitive in the division, so everything still rests on the two remaining matches against them, and on results between them.

The team:
Daniel Bates (c), Paul Martell, Katie Morton: Hurst Badminton Club
Geoff Green: Comberton Badminton Club
Molly Carter, Liz Salmon: St Ives Badminton Club
James Wilson: Ely Victoria Badminton Club
Jessica Sharman: Court Badminton Club

More information about results of the Cambs II team is available on the Team Page.