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

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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

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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

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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.

Cambs Juniors Give Excellent Showing at Eastern Region Tournament

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Cambs U13 Teams

Cambridgeshire Badminton fielded a good range of teams in the Eastern Region Single Sex Tournament held at the Sportsdock at the University of East London on 26th April.

The teams were:

U15: Boys A
Leo Huang & Peter Du

U15: Boys B
Cameron Harris & Murray Reid

U15: Girls
Amy Zhang & Hannah Milton

U13: Boys A
James Xu & Harry Zhao

U13: Girls A
Chanumi Gamage & Sophia Abbott

U13: Girls B
Rachel Owen & Alice Bates

It was a long and gruelling, but extremely fun day of badminton, with teams playing a match consisting of a doubles, and two singles against each of their opponents.  This took a toll on a number of players, with some Cambs players feeling cramp or injuries as the day went on.

Despite their difficulties, the overall results were extremely creditable.  The U13 boys James and Harry enjoyed commanding victories over all but one of the other teams in their competition, and the tournament came down to a thrilling match against a very strong Essex pair.  All four boys plenty excellently, but eventually James and Harry walked away with a well-deserved silver medal.

In the U13 girls tournament, Hertfordshire and Suffolk had also fielded two teams each, and had strong players.  The Cambs girls showed a real desire to win though, and the day came to an end with an exciting crunch match between the Cambs A and B teams.  Played in excellent spirits, the game eventually went to Sophia and Chanumi who beat Alice and Rachel 2-1.  This meant that Cambs A had secured the silver medals overall, and Cambs B took the bronze spot.

In the U15 tournaments, the Cambs A won 4/6 matches and came 3rd (Leo won 6/6 singles and 4/6 doubles; Peter won 2/6 singles and 4/6 doubles) and the Cambs B team unfortunately came in last position.

The U15 girls team also came 3rd, even though Amy suffered an injury part-way through and had to pull out, and Chanumi stood in for the remaining games.

Congratulations to all the players, who put on a great show.

Cambs Ist Team End Season on Norfolk High

Preparations for the first teams final match started early with a hearty curry on the Saturday night, putting a fire in everyone's belly. It was a lovely surprise that Olga could make it along to catch up with everyone, and we all wish her a full and speedy recovery. 

With an hours less sleep, the Ist and IIIrd Cambridgeshire teams made their way North to Norfolk. Min and Paul set the team off to a positive start, both winning their singles in straight sets. Alison, despite breaking the strings in both her rackets also took the second ladies singles in straight sets. Nat played amazingly and made a great comeback from a set down to take the first ladies singles in three, giving Cambs a 4-0 lead heading into the doubles.

The men continued their winning run, and were successful in taking all four games with an extremely close point-by-point battle between the second pairs! Both of the ladies doubles pairs were out-classed by a very strong (and ex-England) Norfolk first pair, but Nat and Sara managed to pick up their second game comfortably. Alison and Lou battled out and unfortunately lost the grip on the game against the second pair in three sets.

Heading into the mixed we had secured the win, but were even more determined to make 11 games to give us the best chance of finishing second in the division. Min and Alison had a good steady game and managed to take a straight sets victory. Nat and Si gained an early win through a retired Norfolk player, disappointing as they were both playing so well. Saving the best for last, Sam and Sara took the final mixed in three sets giving the team a 12-3 victory over Norfolk.

Player of the match deservedly goes to Sam for his grit, determination and pulling the serve out for the last match of the season!

Thanks to Si for supplying the delicious sugary treats that fueled us through the games. A special thanks to Liz Salmon of the third team for sharing her totally amazing home baked cream egg brownies!

The team: Mindaugas Dabasinskas, Paul Heads, Simon Woodhouse, Sam Scharf, Natalie Taylor, Sara Cunnington (c), Alison Meijers, Louise Tarbit.

Match report by Alison Meijers.

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

Cambs U19 Junior Restricted Results

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Tom Zhang: Boys Singles Winner

The U19 Restricted was held at Burwell Sports Centre on 23 March 2014, and was the scene of some superb badminton from the County's young guns.

Girls Competition

Singles winner: Gemma McGuire
Runner up: Amy Zhang 

Doubles Winners: Lily Matthews and Amy Zhang 
Runners up: Gemma McGuire and Lele Chen 

Amy Zhang had managed to squeeze a 21 - 20 win against Gemma McGuire in the Round Robin Section of the Girls Singles but in the Final Play off Gemma fought hard and pulled off a 21-19 win.

In the Girls Doubles Lily Matthews having won this competition last year with Gemma McGuire now paired up with Amy Zhang against Gemma and Lele Chen to regain the title with a new partner, 21-15, 21-13.

Boys Competition

Singles Winner: Tom Zhang 
Runner Up: Kaylan Sutton-Ziaien

Doubles Winners: Kaylan Sutton-Ziaien and Aiden Foo 
Runners up: Tom Zhang and Michael Duncan
 
The Boys Singles Round Robin section was tough of many players with multiple very close  games, one group having the winner and runner up’s decided by points and one player missing out proceeding into the Knock Out quarter finals by a single point. 

The quarters went with  form and all the winners of the groups continuing to show their strength by knocking out all the runners up. 

In the semi finals Jordan Huynh (15) made the older competitor Tom Zhang work hard to ensure a win and continue to the final .

The final saw Kaylan in the final for the 3rd year running having won it in 2012 and been a runner up in 2014 and this year he once again missed out with Tom Zhang winning with some aggressive play 21-15.

In the Boys Doubles the Round Robin saw a split between the stronger pairings and the up and coming challengers leading to good matches at the semi final stage of the competition. The final, however saw Tom and Kaylan again in battle with their partners Michael and Aiden.  Kaylan and  Aiden showed the strength of their 7 year partnership (having played together since they were 10 years old!) to win 21 - 17 after a greatly fought final.

More photographs are available to view in the gallery section.