Cambridgeshire Badminton Association is celebrating an historic victory after success in the Badminton England Masters County Championships this weekend.
In a finals competition spanning the weekend held at the University of Birmingham, the county's O40 team triumphed in the finals of the season-long competition.
The Cambridgeshire team comprising Daniel Bates, Neil Place, Sam Scharf, James Wilson, Natalie Taylor, Sara Cunnington, Alison Meijers and Jenifer Hewitt reached the finals after winning the Midlands-East regional division held from October to February, comprising teams from Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The division was won with a clean sweep of victories, and only 7 games dropped all season.
This was then followed with success in a nail-biting national playoff against Staffordshire in Nottingham on 2nd April, with Cambridgeshire winning 7-5.
Finally, masters teams of all ages were brought together in Birmingham this weekend at the culmination of the Masters County Championships for the semi-finals on Saturday, and finals on Sunday. In the O40 category on Saturday Cambridgeshire achieved a commanding 10-2 semi-final win against Devon, putting them through to a final against Lancashire at lunchtime on Sunday. In another hard-fought match, Cambridgeshire reproduced the same 10-2 result to be crowned O40 National Champions.
This result marks the first time that a team from the county has won a national title at junior, senior or masters levels. The country has a thriving badminton representation, with four masters teams, three senior teams, and three junior teams all taking part in inter-county competition.
