Playing for Laughs - Masters O50s at Coventry

This year, the Over 50s played their annual Masters ICC weekend on 12th/13th January at Coventry Sports Centre, the same venue as the Over 40s, which made a welcome change as we were able to support each other. 

Our team for this year was Angela Sharman, Di Baker, Xin Cheng, Helen Taylor (making her County Over 50s debut), Martin Smith, Martyn Clark, John Harvey, and John Pickering, and we were pleased to note that there was only one knee support in evidence among us, unlike our younger colleagues who appeared to be sponsored by Neoprene Ltd!

Our first match kicked off at 11.30 against Derbyshire, unfortunately the late start time was the only leisurely aspect of it. Derbyshire won the match 3-1, beating Angela and Di in the ladies doubles, Martin and Martyn in mens doubles, and Helen and John P in the 1st mixed. Well done to Xin and John H, who took a very close 2nd mixed 21-19, 23-21.

Next up were Leicestershire, and we showed remarkable consistency by again winning the 2nd mixed and nothing else, This time the honours went to Di and Martyn, while the losing pairs were Helen/Xin, JP/JH, and Angela/Martin.

We finished Day 1 with our match against Cumbria, this time being on the wrong end of a 4-0 defeat. Despite that scoreline, the individual games were the closest of the day, with our losing game scores being 18, 12, 16, 17, 19, 19, 17 and 20. Pairs were Di/Angela, Martyn/JH, Helen/JP, and Xin/Martin.

And so we retired to the hotel for the evening's dinner and disco. All the tables had a plentiful supply of party poppers, balloons, and pea shooters with polystyrene ball ammunition, so everyone could target whichever opponents (or indeed, team mates) they wanted to. Shot of the night was by Over 40s captain Nick Pratt, who managed to land his long distance shot straight into JP's shirt pocket. After that came the disco, our team showing their younger counterparts the way forward by taking to the dance floor early and staying there for the duration, leaving the 40s to relax in the bar area.

Day 2 got off to a dismal, frosty and foggy start - or so our Over 40s colleagues told us later, our first game of the day being at 12.00 so it was bright and sunny by the time we surfaced. First up was Nottinghamshire, who again consigned us to a 4-0 defeat, our pairings were Helen/Xin, JP/Martin, Martyn/Di, and JH/Angela.

Our final match of the day was against Shropshire, and turned out to be our most enjoyable game of the weekend. Alright, we still lost 3-1, but we had some really competitive close games, so much so that we overran our time slot. Kings of the castle this time were Martin and Di, while the dirty rascals were Angela/Helen, JP/Martyn, and JH/Xin.

So, our final result for the weekend was: Played - 5, Lost - 5, Laughs - well into the 100s, and a brilliant debut by Helen, who fitted straight in like she'd been with us for years and not just 2 days. Player of the weekend, on results achieved, was Di, with 2 victories in Mixed games.

Match report by John Pickering.

Cambs II Repeat 8-7 Leicestershire Win

Cambs IInd team faced the return match against the Leicestershire IIIrd team on Sunday 13th January at CRC, in another tiffin-fuelled nailbiter.

Starting with the singles, the match followed the identical pattern of the away leg, with Paul Heads and Stephen Pickering picking up the mens singles, while Katie Morton and Laurel Bennett struggled to apply pressure against a much-changed Leicestershire side.

Going into the levels, Paul and James Wilson continued to develop the understanding in their partnership, winning in straight sets.  However, it was a shock to see the new pairing of captain Daniel Bates and Stephen Pickering beaten in two ends despite a late rally, victims of poor touch and consistency.  Thankfully, the ladies had more success this time, with Katie and Jessica Sharman combining well to win their game, although Laurel and Louise Tarbit (struggling with a ill-advised netball injury) lost in straight sets.

The second round of doubles followed exactly the same path.  James and Paul kept their heads(!) to win despite losing the first end, Daniel and Stephen failed to capitalise on a mid-game turnaround, Katie and Jessica stayed strong to win another three-end marathon, and Laurel and Louise found the final winning handful of points difficult to grasp.

That left the match absolutely in the balance, 6-6 going into the dramatic final mixed round.  Paul and Katie had established a strong lead in their first game, but half-way through the second the Leicestershire player suffered a debilitating attack of cramp, and eventually had to withdraw.  In second berth, James and Louise struggled to find their consistency, and lost the first end quickly.  Despite ratcheting up their effort levels, they also lost the second end, albeit to 19.

That left the entire hushed hall, watching rapt as Daniel and Jessica went into their third end.  Having lost the first end closely to 19, they had upped their pace in the second and won comfortably to 15.  They established a good lead, and then finally, with Jessica serving in an atmosphere where you could hear a pin drop, they closed out the game, and the match.  

Once again, it had ended 8-7 to Cambridgeshire.  Cue exhausted smiles, and a completion of the remaining tiffin rations.

Voting for Player of the Match (MVP) was completed by early evening - a record - and was awarded to Jessica for her all-round performance and cool head in the final reckoning.

An oddly laid-out fixture list now sees the IInd team face Staffordshire again, before two double-headers against Northants and then Ulster.

The team: Daniel Bates (c), Katie Morton: Hurst Badminton Club /  Paul Heads, Louise Tarbit, James Wilson: Ely Victoria Badminton Club / Jessica Sharman: Court Badminton Club / Stephen Pickering, Laurel Bennett

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

U13s and U17s Run Out of Time

Unfortunately, the U13 and U17 double-header at St Neots today ran over time after Norfolk arrived late, resulting in some games not being played.

The U13 battled well, but were 6-12 down to Norfolk when the clock stopped play with two remaining games (which were unfortunately apparently looking good for Cambs!).

The U17 team fared better, and were 9-8 at the end, with three games undecided.  The result will need to go to a steward's enquiry!

Sutton-Ziaian Takes U17 Silver Title

Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian took the Kent U17 Silver Circuit Tournament by storm on Saturday.  After grinding out a win in his group with two three-enders, Kaylan really his his stride.  He beat three other players in comfortable straight-sets victories, before beating Dorset's Michael Higbee in the final 15-7, 15-7.

Congratulations go out to Zaylan for such an impressive result.

For the entire draw, see Tournament Software.

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Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian Triumphs in Kent

O40s Sent to Coventry (A Good Time Had By All!)

The weekend of the 12th/13th January saw the masters over 40s travel to Coventry for their annual ICC competition. Over recent years the team has shown their strength and narrowly missed promotion to the premier league.

The team for 2013 was Nick Pratt, Rob Couch, Kevin Barron, John Foo, Paul Martell, Sandra Ashcroft, Olga Bryant, Amanda Godfrey and Sharon Chandler.

With the smell of muscle rubs cream and the country gold reserve spent on knee bandages, the masters team kicked off with Staffordshire at 09:30 in the morning.

This proved not to be a good start, losing the mens doubles (Paul/John), the ladies doubles (Sandra/Amanda) and 2nd mixed (Rob/Sharon). The only win coming in the 1st mixed doubles (Olga/Nick). Match result, lost 3-1.

Things improved slightly with the next match against what is normally a very strong Notts team, with wins coming from Sandra/Amanda and 1st mixed pairing of Olga/Nick. Others pairs were Rob/John and Sharon/Paul.

For the final match of the day, super sub Kevin turned up and with a change in the line up resulted in. 4-0 win. Pairings of Kevin/John, Sandra/Olga, Amanda/Rob and Sharon/Paul.

Day 1 ends with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat (7 points)

Day 2 started with a 9am match against Lancashire who won all their matches the previous day. It was clear the Cambs players were feeling the affect of thinking they were teenagers and stayed up for late night team talk and bonding session losing the match 3-1. The only win coming from Kevin/Sharon at 2nd mixed. The other pairings were Nick/John, Sandra/Olga, Amanda/Rob.

With the team starting to wake up, the next match was against the very impressive Leicestershire side who boasted two national champions. This was always going to be a hard match, but after some close games, and some not very close the result was a 4-0 defeat. Pairings off Amanda/Sandra, Paul/Rob, Olga/John and Sharon/Kevin.

The final match was against Northumberland, who had alot of draws during the weekend, so we did not want to ruin it, and finished 2-2. The wins comings from the mixed pairings of Olga/Paul and Sharon/Kevin. The doubles pairings were John/Rob and Amanda/Sandra.

Final results. Played 6. Won 1. Drew 2. Lost 3.

Overall verdict: good time had by all.

Norfolk III vs Cambs III: "Dear Santa, please can Kaylan have some new badminton trainers for Christmas?"

On Sunday 16th December, Cambridgeshire IIIrd team visited Norfolk IIIrds for their 6th county match of a jam packed first half of the season.  

The match got off to an interesting start as the slightly inept Cambs Captain Tibbutt misread the match information, and instead of turning up early for a 1pm start, turned up very late for a 12noon start.  Luckily Norfolk were very gracious about Tibbutt's incompetence and the singles players began their warm up.  Or at least they tried to.  Kaylan Sutton-Ziaian pulled his trainers out of his bag to find the toe section of his left trainer all but hanging off.  Fortunately senior-pro Paul Martell was on hand with a roll of gaffer tape to 'fix' the shoe and allow Kaylan to play.  Dear Santa, please can Kaylan have some new badminton trainers for Christmas?

Finally the match could begin and Norfolk quickly gained the upper hand taking all 4 singles matches in straight sets.  Kaylan, Aiden Foo, Stacey Knoop and Emma Brewster all fought hard, but were well beaten by stronger opponents.  4-0 to Norfolk.

Things looked better in the mens doubles as Kaylan teamed up with Paul and convincingly beat the Norfolk first pair in straight sets.  Senior-pro number 2 Graham Barr and Aiden at second mens followed suit with a close 3 sets win.  Unfortunately the ladies couldn't match the men as Jacquie Dennis and Stacey, and Dan Tan (Tanny) and Emma both went down in close games.  6-2 to Norfolk.

The second round of doubles also started positively as Paul and Kaylan comfortably beat Norfolk's second pair.  Graham and Aiden couldn't match them this time, losing in straight sets, and Stacey and Jacquie also lost in the ladies.  Tanny and Emma managed to find their form though and emerged victorious after a long 3 setter against the Norfolk first pair.  8-4 to Norfolk.

Despite the win going to Norfolk, Cambs still had a losing point to play for.  Kaylan and Tanny slipped to a close 2 set defeat at third mixed, but Paul and Jacquie at first and Graham and Stacey at second battled well and ground out very close 3 set wins to secure the losing point.  Final score 9-6 to Norfolk.

MVP for the match: Senior pro Paul Martell.  For winning 100% of his games and also demonstrating previously unknown talents as a cobbler.

Match report by John Tibbutt.

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

Cambs I Continue Division 3 Central Assault

On the 16th December Cambridgeshire's Ist team travelled to Staffordshire to play their IInd team.  Cambridgeshire fielded their strongest team, although they were carrying a few of injuries.

Min Dabasinskas started off the match with an impressive, although very close, win against Staffordshire's top mens singles player (22-20, 21-18). Unfortunately the other singles matches all went Staffordshire's way.  Tom Li, returning from injury, struggled against a strong Staffordshire 2nd mens singles player, losing in two games 15-21, 13-21.  Olga Bryant, Cambs' 1st ladies singles player struggled to adjust to the lighting in the hall, losing 17-21, 16-21.  Cambs' 2nd ladies singles player, Sara Mason (filling in for an injured Natalie Taylor) put up a very gallant fight, but also struggled to adjust to the hall and shuttle speed, losing a close game, 21-14, 15-21, 17-21.

After a quick motivational team chat, and a few sugar filled chocolate brownies, thanks to Louise (the loyal Ist team supporter), Cambridgeshire were determined to pick things back up in the doubles.  Cambs' 1st mens pair, Min and Simon Woodhouse, played their first game against an unorthodox pair from Staffs, and fought very hard for their 25-23, 23-21 win.  Neil Place and Tom then played against Staffs' 2nd pair but unfortunately lost 15-21, 19-21.  In the ladies doubles, the first 2 games were also split between Cambridgeshire and Staffordshire, with Sara and Nat beating their 1st pair comfortably 21-10, 21-17, whilst Olga and Jen Hewitt had a very strong start, but lost out in 3 ends (21-5, 17-21, 13-21).

At the half way point in the match, Cambridgeshire were 5-3 down and so needed a big effort to bring them back in to contention.  Si and Min went on court against the Staffs 2nd pair and showed their dominance by winning in 2 games (21-13,21-12).  Neil and Tom, playing against the Staffs 1st pair, put in a great fight but unfortunately left themselves too much to do in the third end after going down 11-2 at the start, eventually losing 16-21, 21-12, 16-21.  It was then the turn of the ladies... Nat and Sara came away with another win, beating Staffs 2nd pair 21-7, 16-21, 21-17, after the Staffs pair staged a small comeback in the 2nd end.  Jen and Olga then put in an outstanding performance, beating the Staffs 1st pair 23-21, 21-19 - Jen continues to be the player most able to hold her nerve when it comes to winning games in setting!

So, going into the mixed doubles, Cambridgeshire needed to win 2 out of 3 to win the match and maintain their winning streak.  Min and Olga very quickly overcame the Staffs 1st pair winning comfortably 21-11, 21-17. Then, after a nervy start from Neil and Sara, they came off court triumphant against the Staffs 3rd pair winning 15-21, 21-19, 21-5, securing the match win for Cambridgeshire.  Finally Si and Nat battled against the Staffs 2nd pair, but unfortunately, they were unable to tip the balance and win the game, eventually losing their first mixed of the season 21-19, 16-21, 16-21.

So, Cambridgeshire finish the match with their 100% winning record intact and definitely maintain their reputation as the most vocally supportive team in the league... Go CAMBS!!!!!

Player of the Match: TBC

Match report by Natalie Taylor.

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