County Restricted Weekend Produces an Excellent Display of Badminton

September 26, 2011

The Cambridgeshire Restricted Tournament produced a scintillating weekend of badminton over Saturday and Sunday, tinged with a little disappointment.

Most notable was the superb results for Olga Bryant - winning the ladies singles on Saturday, and then following up with the mixed title on Sunday with Stephen Pickering (against James Wilson and Sara Mason in the final), and also teaming up with Natalie Taylor to win the ladies doubles (against Sara Mason and Hannah Sharman).

Having been beaten in the first round by Olga and Stephen, Jess Sharman and Daniel Bates won through to take the mixed plate.

Joe Pickering also fought a long and hard competition in the mens singles, ending with success in the final in a showdown against brother Stephen. The plate went to Tom Li with a very classy showing against a strong draw.

The disappointment came in the mens doubles, where a succession of hard and close games in both the mixed and levels draw resulted in the day running long. With CRC unable to stay open, the final rounds of the mens doubles and plate could not be played. Strenuous efforts will be made to get the appropriate people together to finish the competition as soon as possible.

In all, a superb weekend of badminton. There were lots of excellent games, a large and strong draw (with the exception of ladies singles, where more need to get involved), and vocal and enthusiastic support all around. Thanks to everyone involved in organising and running the event, to everyone who supported, and to CRC for hosting.

Coaching Conference in Leighton Buzzard: 9th October

September 23, 2011

The County Sports Partnership for Bedfordshire & Luton and Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes would like to invite you to join them for their 2011 Coaching Conference.

This annual event provides a range of training opportunities allowing you to make the most out of being a coach.

For more information, see the poster.

Cambs Players & U15 Restricted entry forms

August 14, 2011

Entry forms for the Cambridgeshire Players Tournament and the Cambridgeshire Under-15 Restricted Tournament are now available to download via the Tournament Entry Forms link.

The Players Tournament will be held on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September 2011 at Cambridge Regional College, entries close 10th September.

The Under-15 Restricted Tournament will be held on Saturday 15th October 2011 at Burwell, entries close 8th October.

County Performance Matchplay sessions

July 20, 2011

This summer, Cambs BA is to introduce a new exciting event for Cambs Juniors – County Performance Match Play.

These sessions are designed with the view to attract young players of a county and near county standard from all Junior Clubs in Cambridgeshire, including Schools Badminton Clubs. This is a great opportunity for our youngsters to come together and play matches (singles, doubles) against each other, make new friends, improve their game and compete.

County Performance Match Play will be one of the key criteria for the selection of the county teams at U13, U15, U17, ICT U17, and ICT U21-17.

The first County Performance Matchplay session is this Sunday 9:00-12:00 at CRC (Cambridge Regional College).

More information is available via the

This summer, Cambs BA is to introduce a new exciting event for Cambs Juniors – County Performance Match Play.

County Performance Match Play will be one of the key criteria for the selection of the county teams at U13, U15, U17, ICT U17, and ICT U21-17.

The first County Performance Matchplay session is this Sunday 9:00-12:00 at CRC (Cambridge Regional College).

More information is available via the Google Document.

County Summer Trials: 26th June 1-5pm @ CRC

June 7, 2011

The County badminton squad is holding an interim pay-and-play summer trials session on 26th June. This isn't a final trials, but is to help Selection Committee get an idea of people who are interested in trying out for the County teams, and open out the process to clubs and individuals not familiar with the County setup before. Some partnerships will also be tested to assist with selection decisions for the 2011-2012 season.

Please sign up to attend by emailing bcambridgeshire@gmail.com

St Ives Continue Record-Breaking Trophy Run

May 26, 2011

St Ives Badminton Club continued a proud tradition on Sunday, beating a University team to win the South Cambridgeshire League Bill Pink trophy for the ninth year in a row at Cambridge Regional College.

Neil Place lost his first end of mens singles, but renewed his effort and turned the game around to defeat Chin Kiat Tan in three ends. In the ladies, special recognition should go to up-and-coming club and County star Molly Carter, who showed real class and rampaged through her singles game to win 21-0, 21-2 against Sammy Jones.

The remaining team comprising Simon Woodhouse, Daniel Bates, Liz Salmon and Amanda Godfrey joined Neil and Molly to take on Sammy Jones, Qichao Zhao, Mary Wang and Jo Brant who represented the University.

Despite a number of other hard-fought games between the men and in the mixed disciplines, St Ives still ran out resounding winners with a 9-0 overall score. St Ives has now won the title 16 times in the 51 year history of the competition.

On the same day, the South Cambridgeshire League Mixed Handicap Final saw Hawks playing Ely Victoria Mixed II. Ely Victoria has just been promoted to the 1st division after a strong season losing only one match. Hawks finished mid-table in Division 3, making handicapping the tie a challenge for organisers.

The match was played in a competitive but friendly spirit and there were some great rallies, belying the apparent mismatch between the teams. While both teams played well, special mention must to go to Daniel Lay and Katherine Staden who had some very close games, losing with 19, 16 and 17 points.

The final scores were Hawks 172 v Ely Victoria 378, a difference of 206 points. The sealed handicap had previously been set at 225, so Hawks were winners by 19 points.