Adult Beginners/Developers Course at Chesterton

Any players who want to start the sport, or develop their basic badminton skills (ideally up to a level where you might be able to participate in a club) might be interested in a new course which is starting at Chesterton Community College.

This course will run for 10 weeks from ​Monday 29th April (not including Bank Holidays) at 6:00-7:00pm, coached by Sandra Dennis.

CCC Sports Centre is at ​Gilbert Road, Cambridge, CB4 3NY.  Anyone interested should phone 01223 576 110 for more details or to book a place.

Laurie Finch: Funeral Arrangements

​Laurie Finch's funeral will be held on Monday 22nd April at 2:15pm, at St Peter's and St Paul's Church in Chatteris.  An event will follow the funeral at the Conservative Club in Chatteris.

​The family are happy for people to either bring flowers, or to make a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support at the Church.

Anyone who wishes to come will be warmly welcome.​

Laurie Finch

After a brief battle with cancer, Head Coach of Cambridgeshire Schools Badminton Association (CSBA) Laurie Finch died peacefully in his sleep last night.​

​Laurie will be remembered by countless players in the County and beyond as a tireless advocate for the sport who has coached for nearly forty years and inspired several generations of players.

​Laurie Finch, CSBA

Cambs IIIrds Enjoy Norfolk Romp

Cambs IIIrds hosted the youthful Norfolk III at the weekend and were keen to get revenge for their 6-9 loss before Christmas.  With the Ist team opponents Staffs cancelling due to the inclement weather, the teams could use all four courts for the match and the games flowed thick and fast.  Alison Greenhill got the match off to a perfect start by bringing along a delicious pumpkin cake (like carrot cake, but with pumpkin...) and also won quickly at first singles.  Sharon Chandler took one for the team in her least favourite event and despite coming close in the second set, lost in straight sets at second singles.  Several days later Geoff Green and Graham Barr eventually won in 3 sets at first and second singles respectively against sprightly opposition.  3-1 to Cambs.

Geoff teamed up with Paul Martell at first mens and continued his theme of getting his money's worth by beating the Norfolk first pair in 3 sets.  They settled down against the second pair and won quickly in straight sets.  Graham and Tom Zhang (J) at second mens obviously wanted to get to the cake quickly and won both their mens games in straight sets.

Alison and Sharon at first ladies suffered a slight hiccup by losing the second set against the second Norfolk pair, but were otherwise untroubled winning both ladies.  Dan Tan (Tanny) and Liz Salmon (who had answered the call to play late the night before) at second ladies followed suit, winning both in straight sets.

With the win, full points and revenge in the bag, the only thing left to play for was the race to get to the cake first.  Or rather second, since jet lagged captain Tibbutt had very considerately decided to 'test' the cake and make sure it was ok for the team to eat.  It was.  I can't actually remember who won the race to the cake as all 3 mixed pairs won in straight sets, but the match ended with a fantastic 14-1 winning score and slighty runny icing everywhere.

The team:  Geoff Green, Sharon Chandler: Comberton; Graham Barr, Alison Greenhill, Tom Zhang: Ramblers; Liz Salmon, Dan Tan: St Ives; Paul Martell: Hurst

Match report by John Tibbutt.

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

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.