St Ives Retain Bill Pink Trophy

The final of the South Cambridgeshire Badminton League Bill Pink Inter Club knock-out cup saw St Ives retain the trophy.  They defeated the University side in a closely fought match by 5 games to 4.

Out of the 9 games played, 5 went to three ends.  The University won the singles.  In the mens singles Sam Lees defeated Rob Couch 21-7, 19-21, 21-15.  Then Kat Young beat Sarah Mason 21-18, 19-21, 21-11.

Both mens doubles went to St Ives.  Couch and Daniel Bates beat Rob Pace and Peter Galloway 21-18, 16-21, 21-16.  Bates then teamed up with James Salmon to defeat Pace and Lees 23-21, 21-17.

The ladies doubles were shared.  The St Ives pair of Mason and Faye Gregory lost to Young and Karen Hird 15-21, 21-18, 17-21.  However Gregory and Amanda Godfrey overcame Hird and Fran Powell 22-20, 21-14.

Thus going into the mixed doubles the scores were level at 3 games each.

Pace and Young put the University ahead by defeating Couch and Gregory 21-17, 21-11.  St Ives came back to level the match when Salmon and Godfrey beat Galloway and Powell 21-14, 21-17.  The last game went to three ends before St Ives pair of Bates and Mason after losing the first end defeated Lees and Hird 17-21, 21-19, 21-15.

At the same time to complete a successful day for St Ives in the final of the Mixed Handicap Knock Out Trophy St Ives IV overcame Hawks by 376 points to 325.

For further information, please contact Ken Verney

Ist Team Pipped at the Post

The Cambridgeshire 1st team played the season decider against local rivals Northamptonshire 1st team in division 2 of the Victor Inter County Championship.  The match was a winner takes all, whereby whichever team won the match, wins the league and gain promotion into Division 1.

The match stated well with but Olga Bryant and Kat Young winning their ladies singles in two straight games, but the matches were closer in the mens doubles with both Sunny Lol and Rob Pace winning their 1st ends, but then losing the 2nd and 3rd ends leaving the match all square after the singles.

In the mens doubles, Cambridgeshire have not performed well during the season, and this carried into this match, with both pairing of Nick Pratt/Sam Scharf and Sunny Lol/James Wilson losing all their matches.  However, the ladies double have pulled the county through many a match, and once again the pairing of Olga Bryant/Kat Young won both their matches, and Faye Gregory/Amanda Godfrey winning one of theirs.

This gave Northamptonshire a 7 games to 5 lead going into the mixed.  They soon wrapped up the match and league title, with Cambridgeshire 2nd pairing of Rob Pace/Kat Young losing in two straight games.  Althought, nothing to play for except pride, 3rd Pairing of Nick Pratt/Faye Gregory won their match in 3 ends, but 1st pairing of Olga Bryant/Sam Scharf lost their match in 2.

This gave Northamptonshire a 9 games to 6 win.  Althought disappointed, the county team gained promotion into this division last season, and were looking to avoid relegation, but after winning their first 6 matches found themselves pushing for promotion once again.

County Champions! - IInd Team Win The League

The second team approached the final match of the season with hope and apprehension, knowing that a win was essential for the long desired promotion from the 5th division. The singles started well with all Cambridgeshire players, Jason & Jaclyn Lai, Rob Couch and Alison Bennett securing wins in 2 ends.

The Men's doubles started with slight consternation as Daniel Bates & Rob Couch won their first end of men's 26-24 and narrowly lost the second end to 19. They found form in the third end and won comfortably to 12 then were comfortable throughout their match against the second pair. Neil Place and James Watkins had an easy first match against the second pair winning 6 & 7, but had to work harder against the first pair to win in 2 ends.

The ladies doubles was a bit more mixed with Alison Bennett and Jaclyn Lai playing very well and denying the opponents double figures in most games, the second pair Sandra Ashcroft and Liz Salmon struggled a bit, losing narrowly 22-20 in the third end to the second pair, but rallied round to beat the first pair in 3 ends.

With the match and league decided going into the mixed the Cambridgeshire team were more relaxed! First pair Rob Couch and Alison Bennett won in 3 ends, and the decision to try mixing youth with experience paid off with Daniel Bates and Jaclyn Lai, James Watkins and Liz Salmon both winning in 2 ends.

The second team look forward to the challenges awaiting them next year in division 4 and wish to commiserate the first team on missing promotion so narrowly. 

County Ist Team Lose Close Encounter

On Sunday both the county  1st and 2nd teams played their penultimate matches of the 2007/08 Victor Inter County Championship.  Going into the weekend matches both teams were unbeaten, with them both needing bonus point wins to secure league champions status.

The 1st team played host to a very strong Yorkshire team.  The match started well for Cambs with Olga Bryant and Kat Young both winning their ladies singles, and Rob Pace eventually coming out victor 29-27, 17-21, 21-19 in his men’s singles.  The only defeat was Richard Fryer against the Yorkshire 1st singles player.

During the season the Cambridgeshire men have found the doubles hard going, and this carried through to this match, with the only win coming from Sunny Lol and James Wilson beating the Yorkshire 1st pairing.

The Cambridgeshire ladies on the other hand have been dominant all season, but again Cambs found the going slightly tougher then normal, with Olga Bryant and Kat Young winning both their matches, but 2nd pairing of Faye Gregory and Amanda Godfrey finding the opposition too strong.

This made the match all square going into the mixed.  It started well for Cambs with 1st pairing of Olga Bryant and Richard Fryer winning in two, but Yorkshire quickly levelled the match beating Sam Scharf and Faye Gregory in two.  The whole match therefore went down to the last mixed, with Rob Pace and Kat Young representing Cambs.  Rob and Kat won the 1st end 21-14, but lost the 2nd end 18-21.  The final end was nip and tuck with Yorkshire eventually winning 29-27.

This gave Yorkshire an 8 – 7 win, but still keeps Cambs title hope alive.  Their final match of the season is the title decider this coming Sunday away to Northamptonshire, whereby whichever team wins will win the title and promotion into division 1.

County IInd Team Lose to Northamptonshire IInds

On Sunday both the county 1st and 2nd teams played their penultimate matches of the 2007/08 Victor Inter County Championship. Going into the weekend matches both teams were unbeaten, with them both needing bonus point wins to secure league champions status.

The situation was similar for Cambridgeshire 2nd team when they played host to Northamptonshire II. The Cambridgeshire ladies have been dominant during the season, and quickly opened up a two nil lead with wins for Jaclyn Lai and Alison Bennett in the ladies singles. Northamptonshire then levelled the match defeating Jason Lai and Rob Couch in the men’s singles.

The Cambridgeshire men found the going tough in the doubles with a solitary win coming from 1st pairing of Neil Place and James Watkins and 2nd pairing of Rob Couch and Craig Haughton losing both their matches. The Cambridgeshire ladies once again levelled the match with 2 wins for Jaclyn Lai and Alison Bennett, and 1 win for Liz Salmon and Sandra Ashcroft.

The mixed started well for Cambridgeshire, with Neil Place/Liz Salmon winning their match, albeit with the opposition conceding through an injury. Northamptonshire 1st pairing quickly levelled the match beating Rob Couch and Alison Bennett in two straight ends. Once again the match has gone to the final mixed, and once again this had gone to the 3rd end, with James Watkins and Jaclyn Lai winning the 1st end 21-16, but lost the 2nd end 17-21. In the end, Northamptonshire proved too strong, winning the 3rd end 21-15.

This gave Northamptonshire II team an 8-7 win. Cambridgeshire final match of the season is this coming Sunday away to Worcestershire IV, where a win for Cambs will see them as division 5 champions.

County Ist Team - Six in a Row

This weekend saw Cambridge travel to Nottinghamshire III for the latest game in the ICC division 2B. The home fixture earlier in the season had seen a 10-5 Cambridge victory and a repeat performance taking maximum points was essential for Cambridge to move back to the top of the division for the first time since November.

Cambridge's mens singles players have enjoyed little success this season, and this trend continued as Richard Fryer was defeated in straight sets at first singles. However Rob Pace then levelled the scores with a comfortable victory at second singles, an encouraging result in a rather unfruitful season for the men. Cambridge's ladies however had few problems, with both Olga Bryant and Natalie Taylor recording straight sets victories over their opponents, putting Cambridge 3-1 ahead and ensuring that they both maintain their 100% singles records for the season.

The mens doubles has been another weak link for Cambridge this year, and once again had given the selectors the most difficulty in preparing for this match. However once again the men failed to realise their full potential as the normally reliable Sam Scharf/Jon Carson lost out a in a very close fought three end match against Nottingham's strong first pair, but then disappointingly lost in straight sets to Nottingham's second pair. Cambridge second pairing of James Wilson/Sunni Loi staked their claim to a regular first team place with a hard fought three end win over Notts second pair, before they too were defeated by the Notts top pair. 

As so often this season Cambridge's ladies rescued the match and demonstrated their total dominance over this division with both pairings of Faye Gregory/Natalie Taylor and Kat Young/Olga Bryant winning all their games in straight sets. Of all the matches played so far this year the ladies have taken full points from every match bar one, showing they really ought to be playing a division higher. 

This left Cambridge 8-4 ahead and guaranteed the match was won but Cambs required two out of the three remaining mixed to take the bonus point and move to the top of the table. Due to the similar standards of the Cambridge mixed pairings the first games were always going to be tough,  and this showed as Bryant/Fryer lost in three ends at first pair. The university pairing of Young/Pace were undefeated going into this match but unfortunately they too were unable to overcome their opponents, but Taylor/Scharf were more successful with a comfortable straight sets win at third pair.

This left Cambridge 9-6 winners but bitterly disappointed to have missed taking maximum points and the chance to move to the top of the division. Chances were wasted- of the four games decided in three sets only one went to Cambridge, suggesting a lack of nerve when under pressure. This is the fourth consecutive match Cambridge has won but failed to take maximum points and this may well cost them dearly in their quest for back to back promotions.

Under 15s Cambridgeshire Restricted Tournament

The under age 15 Cambridgeshire Restricted Tournament was held at the Burwell Sports Centre.  The boys section attracted a record entry of 25 boys.

For the third seccessive year and for his final year in the age group the boys singles title was won by Jason Lai.  Jason who is already strong enough to play in the Senior Cambridgeshire County second team overwhelmed all his opponents all of whom failed to reach double figures.  In the final Jason defeated Joe Strickett 21 - 5.

For the boys doubles Joe Strickett was partnered by Ben Parker but failed to gain compensation for his singles defeat.  They went down to Shudong Li and Tom Zhang who won 21 - 11.

The girls singles gave evidence of a new rising star when 12 year old Molly Carter defeated Hannah Sharman in the final 21 - 15.

Hannah did however win the girls doubles.  Partnered by Carolyn Key they defeated Molly Carter and Jessica Sharman in three ends 21 - 12, 18 - 21, 21 - 16.

For further information contact Ken Verney.