Cambs IInd Pip Northants Ist

After a long break, including a snow postponement, the Cambs senior IInd team returned to action in the first of a double-header against Northants Ist team at CRC on 24th February. Spirits were high, as Skipper Daniel Bates was celebrating a 'significant Birthday', and sporting Birthday Boy badge, he insisted that the team deliver him the present of a win.

Northants had been doing well in the division so far, so it was pleasing that Cambs started well. Despite some extremely spirited resistance, and losing the first end in a thunderous 23-25 clash, Paul Heads took his singles by dominating the second set 21-9 and then edged out opponent Matt Asbrey 21-18 in the third.

In the other men's singles, debutante Abu Kaher fought well in a discipline in which he does not particularly specialise, but was beaten in two tight sets - 20-22, 18-21.

The girls singles also saw Cambridgeshire success.  Molly Carter showed true grit to ground out a three-end result against an athletic Marain Formenko 18-21, 21-18, 21-18, while another debutante, antipodean Alison Greenhill, raced to a 21-11, 21-10 victory.

In the mens doubles, the regular partnership of Paul and James Wilson worked well together, and secured both of their games in straight sets with confident play. The new pairing of Daniel Bates and Abu hit the ground running with a 21-6, 21-4 win, but then ran out of steam in the closing points of their second game, losing by the finest margin 21-14, 13-21, 21-23.

In the ladies doubles Northants staged something of a comeback. The new pairing of Molly and Alison beat their first opponents in a tight three-ender, but then unexpectedly struggled against the second pair and were hunted down in the third end 22-20, 19-21, 15-21. The regular pairing of Katie Morton and Jessica Sharman also struggled to impose themselves on their games, and lost both in straight sets -always getting high scores, but unable to convert pressure into wins.

That left the match still in the balance going into the mixed, with Cambs 7-5 up.  Things got even closer when Paul and Katie lost to a strong pair, despite winning the first end 21-17, followed by 12-21, 16-21.  On the third court though, the new pairing of James and Alison had romped home quickly, and triumphed 21-6, 21-12. In the middle match, Jess initially carried over her disappointment from the ladies games, and she and Daniel were beaten 13-21 with Matt dictating the everything. However, the Cambs pair asserted themselves on the game, and eventually held their nerve and completed the final two ends by winning 21-17, 21-19.

That left Cambs 9-6 winners - satisfied, but having missed out on the bonus point by a single game. The end of the match saw the distribution on a stupendous *quadruple* chocolate Birthday cake in celebration.  We must only hope that the team will have worked off the calorific overload before travelling back to Northants to repeat the match next week!

Congratulations also go to Alison, who was voted Player of the Match by the team, with 67% of the vote - pipping Daniel and Abu to the award.​

The team: Daniel Bates (c), Abu Kaher, Katie Morton: Hurst Badminton Club /  Paul Heads, James Wilson: Ely Victoria Badminton Club / Jessica Sharman: Court Badminton Club / Alison Greenhill: Ramblers Badminton Club ​/ Molly Carter: St Ives Badminton Club.

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

Badminton England New Membership Fee Structure

From next year, Badminton England are launching a new membership fee structure.  This will especially affect juniors (and junior clubs), who will each be required to be registered individually.

For more detailed information, refer to the documentation.

CRC Overcomes Moisture for Silver Success

The Cambridgeshire Senior Silver Badminton Open Tournament was held at Cambridge Regional College (CRC) on Friday and Saturday.  Over the two days, over one hundred top badminton players from all over the country competed for the honours.

Friday night saw the early rounds of the men's singles competition, which largely followed the seeding.  Cambridgeshire's Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian was beaten in the 1st round by James White (Leicestershire) and Thomas Li was overcome in the 2nd round by 1st seed Richard Wrigley (Worcestershire), while Mindaugas Dabasinskas fell in the quarter finals to a powerful performance by Scott Sankey (Buckinghamshire).

Proceedings began on Saturday morning with the men's singles semi-finals and the women's singles.  in the men's, Wrigley continued his imperious performance to retain his title, beating Basil Tallah (Essex) 21-14, 21-19.  This victory meant he had impressively won the competition having won every game in straight sets.

In the women's singles, there was sadly no Cambridgeshire representation this year.  Unseeded Singaporean Tanapat Pisitpong (Essex) upset the expected order by dominating the draw, and defeating the holder Toni Blake (Buckinghamshire) comfortably - 21-7, 21-13 in the final.

In the mixed doubles, a number of Cambridgeshire pairs were in action.  Sam Scharf and Louise Tarbit, and Mindaugas Dabasinskas and Olga Bryant fell in the first round.  A scratch pairing of Thomas Li and Katie Morton won through to the quarter finals before being edged out in three ends.  Elsewhere in the draw saw clashes between Cambridgeshire players: Neil Place and Hannah Sharman winning a place in the quarter finals by defeating team-mate Sara Mason and partner Peter Frobisher (Oxfordshire).  The surprise of the discipline saw Daniel Bates and Jessica Sharman knocking out the 2nd seeds Nick and Rachel Hodgson (Lancashire), which set up an all-Cambs Quarter final with Simon Woodhouse and Natalie Taylor, who had fought hard for their place, having played two three-end games already.  Woodhouse and Taylor's experience and strength proved too much, and they were the only Cambridgeshire pair to emerge into the semi finals, where they were beaten by the 4th seed pairing of Dean George (Sussex) and Claire Millward (Warwickshire).  George and Millward then went on to secure a comfortable 21-9, 21-12 victory in the final against Lee Clapham (Derbyshire) and Lynne Swan (Essex).

The mens doubles was an extremely full draw.  Cambridgeshire's Neil Place and Simon Woodhouse were beaten 21-17, 21-14 in the first round by Lee Clapham and Andrew Frye (Essex), while Daniel Bates and Sam Scharf reached the second round before being defeated by Daniel Capon (Kent) and Lawrence Nemesothy (Kent).  The competition eventually reached an unfortunate end, with Dean George and Daniel Woodhouse (Middlesex) winning the final at 10-3 in the first game, when Nick Hodgson and Scott Sankey were forced to retire due to injury.

Finally, in the women's doubles Cambs' Olga Bryant playing with Jenny Crump (Hampshire) lost a hard-fought quarter final game against 1st seeds Claire Millward and Caroline Westley, 14-21, 21-19, 18-21.  Natalie Taylor and Hannah Sharman were also beaten in a nail-biting first round three-ender, losing in the end 19-21.  Other Cambs' representatives Jenifer Hewit and Louise Tarbit, and Katie Morton playing with Gayle Lloyd (Guernsey) were also beaten in the 1st round,  However, Sara Mason playing with Mary Le Druillenec (Warwickshire) fought all the way through to the final against Millward and Westley.  However, they were drained from a three-end semi final, and the 1st seeds proved too strong and won 21-12, 21-10.

The tournament was nearly blighted by difficulties with the venue.  The day's play had been progressing well, but a combination of high moisture levels and low ambient temperatures had caused the courts to become slippery.  Tournament officials fought tirelessly to move games between courts as they became unplayable, and the competition eventually spilled over into the second - older - sports hall.  In the end, it was to the great credit of all involved that all events were successfully completed and no-one was injured as a result of the conditions.

The full results and draws can be found at Tournament Software.

Cambridgeshire Silver President's Preview

Cambridgeshire Badminton President Ken Verney previews the Cambridgeshire Senior Silver Badminton Open Tournament which starts this evening:

The Cambridgeshire Senior Tournament in the Badminton England Silver Circuit will be held at the Cambridge Regional College Sports Hall on Friday and Saturday 25 and 26 January.  Over 100 players will be competing over the two days.

The men's singles is the first event commencing at 6pm on Friday.  Richard Wrigley (Worcestershire) will be defending the title he won last year.  He is top seed and is scheduled to meet Chris Gilbert (Middlesex) in the final.  This would be a repeat of last year's final.  Cambridgeshire interest will center on the performance of County player Mindaugas Dabasinskas, and the promising 16 year-old Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian.  Also the other youngster 17 year-old Thomas Li, who has already established himself as a regular member of the Cambridgeshire County Ist Team.

Play on Saturday commences at 9am with the Women's singles.  Toni Blake (Bucks) the present holder is top seed.

The men's doubles has all the signs of being a very open contest.  The Cambridgshire pair of Neil Place and Simon Woodhouse could well feature in the closing stages.  The holders Dean George and Chris Tonks will not be defending their title.

Last year Claire Millward took the women's doubles title with Kelly Holdway.  This year she is partnered by fellow Warwickshire player Catherine Grant and they are top seeds.  In the final, they could well meet the Bucks pair of Toni Blake and Bethany Jeffs, last year's losing finalists.

Out of the 20 pairs in the mixed doubles there are five Cambridgeshire pairs with all the County Ist Team players featuring.  The top seeds are James and Bernie Babbington of Yorkshire, who lost in the final last year.  Their strongest opposition could come from Dean George (Sussex) and Claire Millward who went out in the semi-final last year.

Spectators are welcome and there is no admission charge.

Cambs Senior Silver This Weekend

Don't forget that CRC (Cambridge Regional College) on King's Hedges Road plays host this weekend to the Cambridgeshire Senior Silver Badminton Open Tournament.

Play starts at the following times:

• Men’s Singles Friday @ 6:00pm
• Women’s Singles Saturday @ 9:30am
• Mixed Doubles Saturday @ 11:00am
• Men’s & Women’s Doubles Saturday @ 2:00pm

Spectators are welcome, so if you want to see some top quality national badminton players, come along!

You can keep track of the draw at http://bit.ly/csilver

All the best to everyone representing the County this weekend!

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Entries for U19 Restricted Open

The entry form for the Cambs U19 Junior Restricted Tournament to be held at Burwell on Sunday 17th March is now available to view, print or download from the Tournaments / Entry Forms section.

All the best to all the players entering!

Playing for Laughs - Masters O50s at Coventry

This year, the Over 50s played their annual Masters ICC weekend on 12th/13th January at Coventry Sports Centre, the same venue as the Over 40s, which made a welcome change as we were able to support each other. 

Our team for this year was Angela Sharman, Di Baker, Xin Cheng, Helen Taylor (making her County Over 50s debut), Martin Smith, Martyn Clark, John Harvey, and John Pickering, and we were pleased to note that there was only one knee support in evidence among us, unlike our younger colleagues who appeared to be sponsored by Neoprene Ltd!

Our first match kicked off at 11.30 against Derbyshire, unfortunately the late start time was the only leisurely aspect of it. Derbyshire won the match 3-1, beating Angela and Di in the ladies doubles, Martin and Martyn in mens doubles, and Helen and John P in the 1st mixed. Well done to Xin and John H, who took a very close 2nd mixed 21-19, 23-21.

Next up were Leicestershire, and we showed remarkable consistency by again winning the 2nd mixed and nothing else, This time the honours went to Di and Martyn, while the losing pairs were Helen/Xin, JP/JH, and Angela/Martin.

We finished Day 1 with our match against Cumbria, this time being on the wrong end of a 4-0 defeat. Despite that scoreline, the individual games were the closest of the day, with our losing game scores being 18, 12, 16, 17, 19, 19, 17 and 20. Pairs were Di/Angela, Martyn/JH, Helen/JP, and Xin/Martin.

And so we retired to the hotel for the evening's dinner and disco. All the tables had a plentiful supply of party poppers, balloons, and pea shooters with polystyrene ball ammunition, so everyone could target whichever opponents (or indeed, team mates) they wanted to. Shot of the night was by Over 40s captain Nick Pratt, who managed to land his long distance shot straight into JP's shirt pocket. After that came the disco, our team showing their younger counterparts the way forward by taking to the dance floor early and staying there for the duration, leaving the 40s to relax in the bar area.

Day 2 got off to a dismal, frosty and foggy start - or so our Over 40s colleagues told us later, our first game of the day being at 12.00 so it was bright and sunny by the time we surfaced. First up was Nottinghamshire, who again consigned us to a 4-0 defeat, our pairings were Helen/Xin, JP/Martin, Martyn/Di, and JH/Angela.

Our final match of the day was against Shropshire, and turned out to be our most enjoyable game of the weekend. Alright, we still lost 3-1, but we had some really competitive close games, so much so that we overran our time slot. Kings of the castle this time were Martin and Di, while the dirty rascals were Angela/Helen, JP/Martyn, and JH/Xin.

So, our final result for the weekend was: Played - 5, Lost - 5, Laughs - well into the 100s, and a brilliant debut by Helen, who fitted straight in like she'd been with us for years and not just 2 days. Player of the weekend, on results achieved, was Di, with 2 victories in Mixed games.

Match report by John Pickering.