Cambridgeshire U19 Junior Restricted Tournament 2013

This years U19 restricted tournament was held at Burwell Sports Centre on 17th March.

All competition was initially played in a round robin format with winners and runners up going through to a knock out format for the final rounds.

Girls Competition

Singles winner - Lily Matthews

Runner up - Gemma McGuire

Doubles Winners - Lily Matthews and Gemma McGuire 

Runners up - Angela Huang and Hannah Divall 

Lily Matthews having lost to Gemma Mcguire in the round robin section of the tournament dug deep and changed her game to win the final 21-18.

In the Girls Doubles final Lily and Gemma put aside their rivalry from the singles and had a convincing win, beating Angela Huang and Hannah Divall 21-9, 21-12.

Boys Competition

Singles Winner - Tom Li

Runner Up - Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian

Doubles Winners - Tom Li and Josh Males

Runners up - Sunny Kong and Tom Zhang 

The Boys Singles Final saw Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian, defender of the title, up against Tom Li. Kaylan had fought through a tough semi against Josh Males (25-23) and this may have taken it’s toll, Tom Li winning 21-19 in a hard fought and entertaining game.

In the Boys Doubles, the round robin format in the early stages of the competition saw some close games, particularly a win for Sunny Kong and Tom Zhang over the defending champions Aidan Foo and Kaylan Sutton-Ziaien of 21-20 (no setting in the round robin). 

This result meant  Aidan and Kaylan met the winners of the other group in the semifinals - Josh Males and Tom Li. The title holders lost this semi (8-21) Tom and Josh proceeding into the final. 

The second semi-final was between Ashley James playing with Ximian Quah, and Sunny with Tom. This was good game but Sunny and Tom were the stronger winning 21-16. 

The final saw Tom and Josh showing their experience and strength winning 21-14 to take the title. 

Cambs IInds 'Flipped' in Northants

It was in arctic conditions that the Cambs IInd team arrived for their second match against Northants Ist team in a week.  There had been a number of squad rotations, and a special season's appearance by Sam Pickup, 'fresh' from his University BUCS weekend.

​Northants were keen to avenge their previous week's defeat, and it was immediately apparent that this was going to be a long and gruelling day - the temperature in the hall was hitting debilitating lows and with only two courts and many games going to three ends, it was very late into the afternoon before a result was reached.

The singles was neck and neck, with Stephen Pickering experiencing a very similar game against Matt Asbrey as Paul Heads had the week before - with the Northants player starting strongly, but Stephen gaining ground to win in three.  Sam Pickup also overcame his exhaustion and nausea to win, while Katie Morton and Laurel Bennet found the Northants ladies too strong and both lost in straight sets.

In the doubles the balance started to tip slightly in Northants' favour, with both Stephen and Sam, and Daniel Bates and James Wilson failing to secure their first games.  Katie and Louise were also defeated, while Laurel and Jessica Sharman ground out a three set win after losing the first end in sets 22-20.  Things improved for the men in the second round, with both pairs turning the form book on its head by winning, while the ladies again found Northants too tough.  Katie and Louise agonisingly lost the third end of their game 23-21.

That left Cambridgeshire trailing 7-5 going into the mixed round.​  However, as muscles continued to stiffen in the ever-freezing conditions, it was too much of a task to overturn the lead.  Although Stephen and Louise won comfortably, James and Katie were dispatched in two ends, meaning the match was lost.  Perennial mixed back runners Daniel and Jessica also lost their nerve and despite winning the first end comfortably, eventually succumbed and lost in three, leaving the result a mirror-image 9-6 of the previous week.

Although this was a reasonable result, and the consolation point secured, there was still an edge of glumness to the team.  The cold had dulled everyone's mood, and also there was a sadness that a better result in the match had not been that far away.​

Congratulations also go to Stephen, who pipped Sam Pickup to the coveted Player of the Match position.​

The team: Daniel Bates (c), Katie Morton: Hurst Badminton Club /  James Wilson, Louise Tarbit: Ely Victoria Badminton Club / Jessica Sharman: Court Badminton Club / Sam Pickup: University / Laurel Bennet, Stephen Pickering.

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

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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