Over 50's ICC Weekend Report

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The Cambs over 50s attended the BE ICC weekend tournament on 10/11th January at Lilleshall Hall, Telford.

We played 6 matches over the two days, but after some excellent badminton and some very close games came away with 3 x 4-0 and 2 x 3-1 losses and 1x 2-2 draw (for which we are claiming the moral victory by 7 points!! ) Although it sounds like a bit of a whooping 2 of the 4-0 losses had 2 sets which went to 3 ends and so could have gone either way.

The team seem to have acquired a new mascot "Swanney", in the form of a balloon modelled Swan!! He/she came out to play at the dinner on Saturday night and was the subject of much fun !!!!! More so for some of the team........He, with a little help had some of the opposing team threatening to join us having seen the attention he was attracting (I will leave this to your imagination).

I think I am safe in saying a very good time was had by all, with some very good badminton too.

Team: Angela Sharman, Dianne Baker, Helen Taylor, Xin Cheng, John Harvey, John Pickering, Martyn Clark, Martin Smith (c)

Report by Martin Smith

Cambs Senior Silver This Weekend

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Don't forget that CRC (Cambridge Regional College) on King's Hedges Road plays host on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th January to the 48th Cambridgeshire Senior Silver Badminton Open Tournament.

Play starts at the following times:

• Men’s Singles Friday @ 6:00pm (Semi Finals Saturday 10:30am)
• Women’s Singles Saturday @ 9:30am
• Mixed Doubles Saturday @ 11:30am
• Men’s & Women’s Doubles Saturday @ 3pm
• Women's Doubles Saturday @ 4pm

Spectators are welcome, so if you want to see some top quality national badminton players, come along - the quality of the draw is very high!

You can keep track of the draw at http://bit.ly/csilver2015

All the best to everyone representing the County at the tournament!

Masters County Challenge O45 2015 Report

Saturday

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Back row (left to right) Peter Colerman, Nick Pratt, Kevin Barron and John Foo

Front row (left to right) Sharon Chandler. Sandra Ashcroft, Lucy Matthews and Olga Bryant

It was with great trepidation, anticipation and excitement that the Over 45 team of Olga Bryant, Sharon Chandler, Lucy Matthews, Kevin Barron, Peter Coleman, John Foo, Nick Pratt and Captain Sandra Ashcroft (who had the onus task of trying to keep them all in line) headed off to Lilleshall for the annual Master games. They were in Group 1A containing Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire and would play one match against each other county consisting of 1 Ladies, 1 Mens and 2 Mixed doubles.

Out first match was against Leicestershire and following a long journey of some 3 hours it was always going to be tough, a very nervous debutant Lucy Matthews played in the ladies with Sandra Ashcroft it didn’t take them long to work out their partnership and narrowly lost 21-15 21-17,  but this hopefully meant positive things for the weekend, next it was the turn of Peter Coleman and Kevin Barron who won 21-14 21-17,

Score  1 all going into the Mixed Cambridgeshire strength normally Olga Bryant paired up with her partner of old Nick Pratt at number 1 mixed and cruised at 21-7 21-13 followed by Sharon Chandler and John Foo who closed the match out in favour of Cambridgeshire 21-16 21-16.

Match score 3-1.

With a sit out of 3 hours this gave the team time to talk tactics and team selection HA HA!!  or grab 40 winks.  Team spirit was high going into the next match against Shropshire 

• Ladies Doubles                  -    Lucy and Sandra              lost    15-21  15-21
• Mens Doubles                  -   Nick and John                   won   21-8    21-14
• Mixed 1 Doubles              -    Olga and Peter                 won    21-9    21-9
• Mixed 2 Doubles              -    Sharon and Kevin            won    21-17  21-4                         

Match Score 3-1

Final Match of Saturday with much relieve of the team was against their old enemies Nottinghamshire

• Ladies Doubles                  -    Lucy and Sandra              lost    15-21  13-21
• Mens Doubles                  -   Peter and John                 won   21-14  21-19
• Mixed 1 Doubles              -    Olga and Nick                    lost     17-21  13-21
• Mixed 2 Doubles              -    Sharon and Kevin            won    21-17  17-21 and 21-13 

Match Score 2-2

Undefeated Day one, time to party and hopefully for Captain Sandra to prevent too bigger hangovers for a

10 O`Clock start on Sunday. Hic  Hic                                                                                   

Sunday

First match of the day was going to be against Warwickshire who had partied hard the night before,  with  Cambridgeshire hangovers prevented and muscles kept warm dancing the team were positive and up for the challenge

• Ladies Doubles                 -    Lucy and Sandra              lost     8-21   11-21
• Mens Doubles                  -   Nick and John                  lost    19-21   18-21
• Mixed 1 Doubles              -    Olga and Peter                 won   21-10  21-17
• Mixed 2 Doubles              -    Sharon and Kevin            won   21-12  21-14

Match Score 2-2

Second match against so far an undefeated team of Wiltshire and an unknown commodity for Cambridgeshire

• Ladies Doubles                  -    Lucy and Sandra              lost    13-21  12-21

This was followed by a outstanding performance and the match of the tournament by John and Nick

• Mens Doubles                  -   Nick and John                  won    18-12 21-19 and 21-13

This left it to the Mixed pairings to bring the result home, unfortunately this did not start well with Peter rubbing deep heat where beers cannot reach, giving the Cambs Over 50s ladies looking down from the balcony a sight not fit for sore eyes and playing against an injured opponent proved too much hence

• Mixed 1 Doubles              -    Olga and Peter                 lost    18-21  21-10 and 16-21    

Match score 2-2

But the pairing with 100% records to this date kept Cambridgeshire in the race

Mixed 2 Doubles              -    Sharon and Kevin            won   21-17  21-15

With one match to go Cambridgeshire remained undefeated with both Sharon and Kevin on 100%, so the pressure was on, so following a team talk it was decided to swap pairings around against Derbyshire

• Ladies Doubles                  -    Olga and Sandra             won   21-10  21-12
• Mens Doubles                  -    Peter  and John              won   21-6    19-21 and  21-19
• Mixed 1 Doubles              -    Sharon and Nick              won   21-14  14-21 and  21-12
• Mixed 2 Doubles              -    Lucy and Kevin                 won  21-16  21-11

Match score 4-0

Final positions

• Warwickshire: 10 points
• Nottinghamshire: 10 points
• Cambridgeshire: 9 points
• Wiltshire: 7 points

Followed by Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Shropshire

It was a great weekend of quality badminton, team undefeated  with a tremendous team spirit commented on by the organiser and here`s looking forward to 2016.

Many thanks team

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.