Cambridgeshire Badminton President Ken Verney previews the Cambridgeshire Senior Silver Badminton Open Tournament which starts this evening:
The Cambridgeshire Senior Tournament in the Badminton England Silver Circuit will be held at the Cambridge Regional College Sports Hall on Friday and Saturday 25 and 26 January. Over 100 players will be competing over the two days.
The men's singles is the first event commencing at 6pm on Friday. Richard Wrigley (Worcestershire) will be defending the title he won last year. He is top seed and is scheduled to meet Chris Gilbert (Middlesex) in the final. This would be a repeat of last year's final. Cambridgeshire interest will center on the performance of County player Mindaugas Dabasinskas, and the promising 16 year-old Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian. Also the other youngster 17 year-old Thomas Li, who has already established himself as a regular member of the Cambridgeshire County Ist Team.
Play on Saturday commences at 9am with the Women's singles. Toni Blake (Bucks) the present holder is top seed.
The men's doubles has all the signs of being a very open contest. The Cambridgshire pair of Neil Place and Simon Woodhouse could well feature in the closing stages. The holders Dean George and Chris Tonks will not be defending their title.
Last year Claire Millward took the women's doubles title with Kelly Holdway. This year she is partnered by fellow Warwickshire player Catherine Grant and they are top seeds. In the final, they could well meet the Bucks pair of Toni Blake and Bethany Jeffs, last year's losing finalists.
Out of the 20 pairs in the mixed doubles there are five Cambridgeshire pairs with all the County Ist Team players featuring. The top seeds are James and Bernie Babbington of Yorkshire, who lost in the final last year. Their strongest opposition could come from Dean George (Sussex) and Claire Millward who went out in the semi-final last year.
Spectators are welcome and there is no admission charge.