New Junior Opportunities at Burwell Smashers

A new junior badminton club aimed at children aged 5-11 will be launching in Burwell in the new year.

Held at the Burwell Community Sports Centre, and run by Badminton England Qualified coach Paul Martell, Burwell Smashers will give children in the Burwell and surrounding villages the chance to get a taste for the sport, or to develop their skills further.

The sessions are weekly on Tuesdays, from 5-5:55pm in term time, and begin on 6 January 2015.

For more information and a booking form, please visit the BCSC website.

Parents or children looking for other coaching opportunities around Cambridgeshire should refer to the map and lists on the Juniors Page.

Cambs IInds Go Into the Xmas Break Unbeaten With a Great Victory over Northants

Cambs IInd team continued their 2014-2015 campaign in style with another 8-7 victory over Northants on Sunday.

This game was always going to be a tough one, as these Cambs II v Northants matches have been very tight for several seasons. With James Wilson and Shan Sundra out with injuries, and several other players feeling under the weather – it was going to be tricky. 

Haixi Yan is becoming a regular feature in the IInd team, stepped up to play singles, along with Neil Place. Unfortunately both men lost in two, despite some great effort and lot of diving around the court!

Marijn Prins played outstandingly and is really looking like a classy singles player- she won in 2 against a very strong Northants lady. Katie Morton didn’t really get going and lost in two….having to rush off court at the end of the match to throw up! Clearly this worked and Katie and Adele went on to win both doubles matches in two, maintaining their unbeaten ladies doubles partnership this season. Marijn and Liz Salmon lost both doubles, despite taking their second pair to three and also getting very close against the first pair.

In the mens doubles, Neil and Daniel Bates maintained their composure and won both doubles, going to three in a particularly tight second game. The new pairing of Abu Kaher and Haixi took one match to really get going, but once they began to gel on court, they managed to pull off a great win in a niggly game, taking it to 6-6 going into the mixed.

The new partnership of Dan and Marijn were first off court, unfortunately having lost in two to a very steady Northants pair. Next off court were Abu and Katie, who managed to pull off an extremely tight win, 23-21, 22-20! This meant that, in typical Cambs II style, it was down to Neil and Adele! Adele’s parents were in the crowd along with two other supporters (we should consider charging for the spectators, its getting out of hand really!) and bums were getting twitchy. They managed to win the first game, lost the second….but held it together excellently to win 21-12 in the third! 

We’ve still got a lot of hard work ahead of us going into the New Year but overall an excellent first half of the season. 

The team: Neil Place, Haixi Yan, Abu Kaher, Daniel Bates, Katie Morton (c), Adele Woodhams, Marijn Prins, Liz Salmon.

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

Cambs IInds Win at Home Against Beds II

It was Cambs IInds first home match of the season on December 7th, and the home fans (all 2 of them) were not disappointed…with a comfortable victory over Beds 2.

With both of our usual mens singles players in action at the Masters Nationals the day before, the plan was to let both of them off the hook with the singles. Haixi Yan had kindly agreed to come along for a singles (I think he might be starting to enjoy it!) and we were pretty much down to drawing straws for the other singles. However, with Shan Sundra still stuck on the bus from Cambridge, James Wilson still returning from injury and Dan Bates still in Hatfield playing a Masters game….Neil Place agreed to take one for the team and play an extra match.

It might seem that the Cambs team had a slightly shambolic start….however this was nothing compared to the Beds II team who turned up minus a lady who forgot there was a match!

The Bedfordshire mens singles players were strong and despite a good fight from both Cambs players, we lost both. The ladies singles did not disappoint, with Marijn Prins and Katie Morton winning fairly comfortably in two.

Cambs captain, Katie was getting nervous with Dan Bates still not back from Hatfield….but with about 2 minutes to go, he came running in, racket at the ready! 

With James Wilson back in action following an ankle injury, the mens doubles was changed up this week, with James and Neil teaming up. It was great to see James back on form and looking like he was glad to be back. He and Neil gelled well on court to beat the Beds 1st pair in two.  
     
Dan and Shan beat the Beds 2nd pair in two very close games, and played well despite having never played together before. On the cross-over doubles, Neil and James took the Beds 2nd pair to three and won. Unfortunately, Dan and Shan lost in three.

Katie and Adele, and Marin and our other new recruit, Steph Potten, beat the Beds 1st pair in two. 

Going into the mixed with one more match to win in order to secure the bonus point, all three Cambs teams kept their heads and played superbly well. Neil and Adele decided to get their money’s worth and went to three, eventually beating the Beds II first pair. James and Marijn won comfortably in two, and Shan and Katie teamed up and managed to win in two, despite it being a very close game.

Thanks to Haixi for stepping in to play the singles and thanks to Steph for coming along, albeit just for one doubles match!

The team: Neil Place, Haixi Yan, James Wilson, Sutharshanan Sundrapandi, Daniel Bates, Katie Morton (c), Adele Woodhams, Marijn Prins, Steph Potten.

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

Cambs II pull off a convincing win against Suffolk II

Cambs IInd team continued this season’s success with a very convincing win against Suffolk II on Sunday November 23rd. After a very slow drive to Ipswich in appalling conditions, and a little bit of a shaky start in the singles, Cambs pulled it together, going on to win 13-2.

Neil Place was struggling with illness and an injury (developed during the first few points of the singles match!), and lost in 2 against a strong singles player.  Katie Morton made her singles debut for the season, but narrowly missed out on victory in a very tight 3-ender. Then came the second singles. With Dan Bates out with a chest infection, it was Haixi Yan’s turn to step in, despite mentioning on several occasions in the car on the way to the venue “I don’t really like singles”. Haixi put in a fantastic performance (clearly he is a singles player after all!) and won in a very tight 3-ender. Marijn Prins stepped up again to play singles –pulling off a very convincing win. This left us level pegging going into the doubles.

Suffolk demonstrated great gender equality by putting the ladies on first (clearly to show how it’s done). Adele Woodhams and Katie Morton won comfortably in 2 games against Suffolk’s 1st pair. Marijn Prins and Liz Salmon also won confortably against their 2nd pair – Liz showing that she is back with a vengeance after missing the first match of the season.   

The new partnership of Neil Place and Haixi Yan gelled immediately on court, winning 21-12, 21-12 against the Suffolk 1st pair. Shan Sundra and Abu Kaher had a tighter game against their 2nd but managed to win in two games, 21-18, 21-19.

On the cross-over doubles, both ladies teams won in two games, with Liz and Marijn looking really solid, especially as it was the first time they have played together.  Similarly, both mens teams won all their games, with Neil and Haixi looking very solid indeed (not dropping more than 12 points in any match). Abu and Shan had a shakier win, taking the Suffolk 1st pair to three, but in true Abu and Shan fashion the held it together and went on to win 21-15 in the third (I’m sure there were several between the leg defensive shots involved).

Although it was a nice feeling to be going into the mixed with a win, and the bonus point secure, Cambs were never going to be complacent. Cambs 1st pair, Neil and Adele got off to a cracking start winning in two (and managing not to break any rackets this week). Cambs 2nd pair, Shan and Marijn also won in two. The new paring of Abu and Liz decided to get their money’s worth and went to three. Abu’s composure and Liz’s first-class serving and total net domination really came through as they won a very close third end. 

Finally, it was time to eat some of Liz’s brownie (officially the best brownie in the East) and head home. Well done Cambs II, a great performance all round. Despite trying to set up an automatic player of the match online voting system….captain Katie Morton appears to be struggling with technology as results revealed that Dan Bates won player of the match…despite being at home with his feet up!  I think our unofficial player of the match has to be Haixi Yan for stepping in last minute, playing (and winning) his singles and also doing a great job in the doubles – Well done Haixi!

The team: Neil Place, Haixi Yan, Abu Kaher, Sutharshanan Sundrapandi, Katie Morton (c), Adele Woodhams, Marijn Prins, Liz Salmon.

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

Results from The Cambs U15 Restricted Tournament 2014/15

This years Tournament at Burwell Community Sports Centre proved to be rather unique in that the Girls entry was larger than the Boys, this has not occurred in many years and was good to see. 

There was a range of ability in both Singles and Doubles competition but all enjoyed participating and a number of matches had close final scores.

Girls Singles

Winner: Chanumi Gamage (Chanumi won all her matches)
Runner Up: Hannah Milton (Lost only to Chanumi!)

Boys Singles 

Winner: Harry Zhao (Harry won all his matches)
Runner Up: Cameron Foo (Lost only to Harry!)

Girls Doubles

View fullsize

Chanumi Gamage and Hannah Milton

Winners: Cambs U15 Restricted Girls Doubles

The winner and runner up in the singles joined forces in the doubles and beat all the other pairs to win the title, the runners up place was more hotly contended with the eventual stronger pair winning a crucial tie.

Winners: Chanumi Gamage and Hannah Milton 
Runners up: Ghazal Seidi and Tianne World 

Boys Doubles

View fullsize

Cameron Foo and Harry Zhao

Winners: Cambs U15 Restricted Boys Doubles

Likewise in the Boys event the two new singles medal holders became a pair and proved to be too strong for any of the opposition. The runners up only met each other on the day and played well together.

Winners: Harry Zhao and Cameron Foo
Runners up: Benedict Taylor and Alex Chan

Well done to all the winners and thanks to all who entered and made the day so enjoyable for all.

Medal Rush for Cambs U15 Players in Local Bronze

View fullsize

Cameron Foo and Harry Zhao

Winners: Cambs U15 Bronze Boys Doubles

Cambridgeshire Badminton Association was proud to host the Badminton England U15 Bronze Circuit tournament at the One Leisure Centre in St Ives last Saturday, 25 October.  

Forty-six U15 players from around the country converged on the County to compete for the honours.  After a day's play, some of the top honours went to home grown players.

In the boys doubles, the gold medals were secured by the Cambs pairing Cameron Foo and Harry Zhao, who took the final match in a commanding 21-16 victory against the scratch pairing of Tommy Corteen and Daniel Hughes.

In the girls doubles, a close and hard-fought final was eventually also won by Cambridgeshire pair Chanumi Gamage and Hannah Milton, triumphing 21-18 against Rebekah Easy and Katie Scott.

Complete results

Boys Singles

Winner: Pranav Santhosh

Runner Up: Raymon Ramakrishnan

Bronze Medal: Amrit Brar

Bronze Medal: Luke Meehan

Boys Doubles

Winners: Cameron Foo & Harry Zhao

Runners Up: Tommy Corteen & Daniel Hughes

Girls Singles

Winner: Laura Anderson

Runner Up: Rebekah Easy

Bronze Medal: Katie Scott

Bronze Medal: Katelyn Harrington

Girls Doubles

Winners: Chanumi Gamage & Hannah Milton

Runners Up: Rebekah Easy & Katie Scott

Bronze Medals: Vinisha Agrawal & Atulya Singh

For the complete results and other information, please see the entry on Tournament Software.

Age and Experience Conquer Youth in Nail-Biting First Cambs II Match

Cambs IInd team started their 2014-2015 campaign in style with a close but well-deserved victory over a youthful Middlesex IVth team.

With Cambs II narrowly missing promotion for the last 2 seasons, tensions were high for the opening game which featured several new faces in the team, including Shan Sundra, Marijn Prins and Jaclyn Lai.

With our most senior gentlemen, Neil Place and Dan Bates stepping up for the men’s singles, both put in a valiant effort but were defeated, with Neil Place taking his to a third end. Our new recruit Marijn Prins took on an excellent singles player from Middlesex but unfortunately lost in 2. Our reserve, Jaclyn Lai also lost in 2, having had a very close game against another Middlesex youngster.

In was Cambs turn to step it up a gear in the doubles. Both mens partnerships, Neil Place and Dan Bates and Abu Kaher and Shan Sundra won their first matches fairly comfortably, despite it taking our team a while to adjust to one side of the Middlesex hall which had the visibility of a murky pond!

Next it was the ladies turn to get going, with Adele Woodhams and Katie Morton winning comfortably in 2 games against Middlesex 1st pair. Marijn Prins and Jaclyn Lai put in a stellar performance but were pipped at the post in a close 3-ender by Middlesex's 2nd pair.

On the cross-over doubles, both mens teams won all their games, with Neil and Dan looking solid. Abu and Shan had a shakier win, taking the Middlesex 1st pair to three, but pulling out some classy badminton and some very sneaky shots to take the win.  Adele and Katie also won in two against Middlesex 2nd pair. Jaclyn and Marijn played well and started to click on court, but were pipped to the post by the Middlesex ladies.

In typical Cambridgeshire fashion, we decided to leave it all down to the mixed doubles. At this point, the score was 6-6 and bums were beginning to get twitchy!

Cambs 2nd pair, Shan and Marijn got off to a cracking start, with Marijn exerting her dominance at the net. Abu and Katie were less successful, losing in 3 to their 3rd pair. This meant that it all rested on our first pair, Neil and Adele to bring home the bacon. In typical Cambs fashion, it went to a third end and despite being up on the turn, Neil and Adele went 20-18 down, and had a racket clash in which Adele broke her (brand new) racket. However, despite these factors, they both held their nerve and proceeded to win 27-25!

After a quick toilet trip for all(!), we left for the journey home feeling exhausted yet very satisfied with our team performance.

Well done Cambs II, a great start to the season!

The team: Neil Place, Daniel Bates, Abu Kaher, Sutharshanan Sundrapandi, Katie Morton (c), Adele Woodhams, Marijn Prins, Jaclyn Lai.

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