Strong Win Puts IInd Team in Good Position

On Sunday 11th January Cambs 2 played Beds 2 in a bottom of the table crunch match with the team coming worse off likely to go down.

The Men's singles started even with James Watkins finally finding form in the 3rd end to bring his singles home, but Jason Lai struggled against his cold and opposition and finally succumbed. Liz Salmon put Camb's nose ahead with a straight ends win and Tracey Hayward fought well in three ends but was eventually beaten leaving the score line equal going into the doubles.

Both teams fought ferociously as 7/8 of the Doubles went to 3 ends. In the Mens' doubles Rob Couch and Daniel Bates beat the first pair, but lost narrowly to the second pair, whilst James Watkins and Neil Place won both rubbers. The Ladies were keen to keep up the good work, Liz Salmon and Tracey Hayward were a scratch pair for the match and lost to the first pair but eventually got their act together for a final decisive push against the Bedfordshire second pair. The established pair of Tracey Bichener and Amanda Godfrey won their first rubber against the second pair in a close two ends but were nip and tuck against the first pair all the way through the three ends and piped then at the post to put Cambs 8-4 ahead.

Liz Salmon and Neil Place won their mixed comfortably against the Bedford first pair, Rob Couch and Amanda Godfrey worked hard but sadly lost in the third end. Cambs were hopeful, and not disappointed in Daniel Bates and Tracey Hayward winning in two ends to bring a very useful 3 league points, keeping Cambs in with a chance of staying up this year.

Veterans Inter-county Championships 2008/09 Results

Over the weekend of the 10th/11th January, Cambridgeshire sent two teams to Loughborough University to compete in the Yehlex Veterans Inter-County Championships.

The over 40s captained by Nick Pratt were competing in division 2a, where there was only 5 teams, this meant an home and away type scenario, with each county playing each other on the Saturday, and the fixtures repeated on the Sunday.

The over 45s captained by John Pickering were competing in a single group of 7 teams, which meant a single fixture against each of the other teams.

Over 40s

Team : John Foo, Kevin Barron, Nick Pratt, Pete Coleman, Jackie Coleman, Olga Bryant, Sandra Ashcroft, Sharon Chandler

The Saturday started with a 10am match against Durham, who in previous years had been a tough opposition. They once again proved a tough with Jackie/Sandra losing in two straight ends. Kevin/Pete quickly levelled the scores after the men’s doubles. The match was then quickly wrapped up with mixed wins for Nick/Olga and John/Sharon.

The next fixture was a 12:10am match against hosts Leicestershire. This proved to be an easier match then expected with the same Cambridgeshire setup winning all four rubbers.

The 3rd fixture of the day was a 2:20pm match against Nottinghamshire II. With a slightly changed setup, with John pairing up with Pete in the men’s doubles, and Kevin pairing up with Sharon in the 2nd mixed pairing, this again proved to be an easy match, with Cambridgeshire winning by 4 rubbers to 0.

The final match of the day was against an unknown Northumberland team. With Cambridgeshire back to the original setup, we quickly took a 2 - 0 lead with both the ladies and men’s doubles winning. Unfortunately, the mixed proved far harder, with shock defeats for both the Cambs mixed pairing, leaving the match as a 2 - 2 draw.

After the Saturdays play the league tables stood at Cambridgeshire 7pts, Leicestershire 5pts, Northumberland 5pts, Durham 3pts, Nottinghamshire 0pts

The Sunday fixtures followed the same order and times, with the 1st match against Durham. This proved to be a little harder then the previous day, with many of the Cambridgeshire team feeling the after effects from the fluid replacement the previous night. Once again, the Durham ladies proved too strong from Cambs, but again the men’s doubles quickly levelled the score. With strong mixed pairing from Cambs, we were quietly confident of quickly wrapping the match up, but the going was a little harder but Cambs came out victors in both matches in the 3rd ends.

The next fixture was against joint 2nd place and hosts Leicestershire. Cambs made life hard for themselves with our ladies losing to a strong Leicestershire pair, and our men losing their only match of the competition in a close 3rd end. The mixed pairings came to the rescue, with victories for both pairs once again in the 3rd end. This match proved to be so close, it took 1hr 45minutes to complete, which delayed the tournament.

At this stage, Cambs were still feeling confident, although Leicestershire could still catch them in the league (Northumberland slipped up to Durham). The next match was against Nottinghamshire. This proved to be a confident booster for the Cambs ladies, with them winning a tight match 21-19 in the 3rd end. The men’s and mixed pairings quickly wrapped up the match giving Cambs a 4 - 0 win.

With the final match of the tournament against Northumberland, the pressure was off as Cambs had already won the league when Leicestershire drew with Northumberland the previous match. Both the ladies and men’s doubles completed the 'double' over the opposition, leaving the mixed pairings to seek revenge from the previous day. With no pressure on, both mixed pairing turned the tables on the opposition with Nick/Olga winning in the 3rd end, and John/Sharon easily winning in 2 ends.

Final Position : Champions

Click here for score sheets

Over 45s

Team : Geoff McCall, John Harvey, John Pickering, Martyn Clark, Angela Sharman, Carol Salmon, Chris Key, Di Baker

This was always going to be a tough league for the over 45s, and it proved so in the first match on Saturday against Derbyshire. The ladies doubles pairing of Chris/Angela found their opposition just too strong losing in two straight ends. The men’s doubles pairing of John H/John P managed to level the match in a close two ender. Unfortunately, the mixed doubles went in the way of Derbyshire with pairings of Di/Geoff losing in 3 ends and Carol/Martyn in two ends.

The 2nd match of the day was a slightly easier game against Shropshire. The level doubles went in the way of the opposition with the ladies losing in two straight ends, and a different men’s doubles pairing of Geoff/Martyn losing in three ends. The new mixed doubles pairings of John P/Carol and John H/Di saved the day, with both pairings winning their rubbers leaving the result as a 2 - 2 draw.

The 3rd and final match of the day was against the very strong Essex team. The team went back to the first match of the day with regards the pairings, but this proved to be futile, with all pairings losing their matches in two ends.

The 1st fixture Sunday morning was against a very strong Cumbria side. With Cambs having another restructure (probably caused by the same fluid replacement regime as the over 40s), the ladies doubles pairing of Angela/Di losing heavily in two ends, and men’s doubles pairing of John P/Geoff losing a very close match in three ends. Both mixed doubles went in the way of Cumbria with Martyn/Carol losing in two ends, and John H/Chris losing in three ends.

The 2nd fixture of the morning against Nottinghamshire proved to be just as difficult, with yet another re-organisation within the team, saw Angela/Christine pair up again, but lost in a close two ends. Martyn/Geoff paired up again but found the Nott’s pair too strong, going down in two ends. Once again, the mixed went in the way of the opposition, with John P/Carol and John H/Di both losing in two ends.

The final fixture of the day was against Lincolnshire, with a draw or better being required to avoid the bottom position in the table. Ladies pairing of Carol/Christine lost in three ends, but men’s doubles pairing of Geoff/John H levelled the match. The 1st mixed pairing of John/Angela went to Lincolnshire 21-19 in the 3rd end, but Martyn/Di quickly levelled the match.

Final Position : 6th

Click here for score sheets

Photographs will be uploaded later

Defeat for Ist Team

After three straight defeats Cambridgeshire 1 faced a bottom of the table clash against Worcestershire in a battle to stay in division 2. A host of illnesses, injuries and various unavailabilities saw several new partnerships being tested out for the first time and several players making their first team debut having been called up from the seconds.

The opening singles saw both Rob Pace and James Watkins being defeated in straight sets before Olga Bryant playing as steadily as always took her game comfortably. Junior Jaclyn Lai lost the second singles in straight sets.

The mens doubles saw Pace team up with James Wilson in an untested partnership which seemed to be paying off until several dubious decisions gifting the game to the home team. James Watkins and Neil Place stepped up from the second team and played extremely well to take one of their two games in a close 3 set match.

It was hoped that the ladies would level the scores for Cambs, however Bryant and Kate Balls in their first competitive match together were disappointingly beaten by the Worcs first pair, before claiming a victory over the seconds. The second ladies pair was another new partnership and Lai and Amanda Godfrey pushed both pairs extremely hard before just losing out in very close finishes in very tight games- extremely unlucky not to take a point.

Cambridge needed all three mixed to salvage a point but this never looked likely as yet another new pairing of Bryant/Place were beaten in straight sets at first mixed. With only pride left to play for Wilson/Godfrey were unable to reproduce their winning form from the previous week and were also beaten in straight sets at third. The longest and closest game of the day went to Pace/Balls who fought out an epic and bloody three set game (including some bizarre scoring from an umpire who hadn't quite grasped the new scoring system) finishing the match bandaged and blooded, and very unlucky not to come away with a result.

Overall a very disappointing result to finish the first half of the season. Despite having several key players missing this is a match Cambs really out to have taken points away from. Things will have to improve in the new year to have any chance of avoiding relegation.

Defeat for IInd Team

With 4 players making a debut to Senior County matches the Cambs team knew this would be a tough match.  The match started with Jason Lai & Ben Carter (debut) putting up some resistance to their opponents in the Men's singles but conceding in 2 ends. The Second Ladies singles also went to Suffolk in 2 ends with Carolyn Key (debut) being introduced to senior singles. Liz Salmon put up a fight in the first ladies' singles but sadly lost in 3 ends.

The Men's Doubles started well giving Cambs some hope with Sam Scharf and Chris Lim beating the Suffolk 1st pair in 3 ends. Sadly this was not to continue as they went on to be beaten by the second pair . Sam Pickup and Ben Carter as a debut scratch pair fought well but failed to trouble their opponents.

The ladies doubles was balanced with Liz Salmon and Sandra Ashcroft bring home 2 rubbers, both in 3 ends, but Tracey Bichener and Carolyn Key were disappointed being beaten in 2 ends.

Going into the Mixed Cambs needed to bring all 3 in to get a point of Suffolk. It started well with Liz Salmon and Sam Scharf winning comfortably in 2 ends, but Suffolk ruled the day as scratch pairs Sandra Ashcroft and Ben Carter, Tracey Bichener and Sam Pickup sadly lost in 2 ends each. Match result 11-4 to Suffolk.

Ist Team Find the Going Too Tough

After two straight defeats Cambridgeshire 1 desperately needed a victory against Warwickshire 3 to distance themselves from the foot of the table and allay their relegation worries. With two regular players being unavailable Amanda Godfrey started her first match of the season and Rob Pace stepped in to fill a gap in mens doubles.

The opening singles gave Cambs the perfect start as Rob Pace opened up his singles account with a confident victory and Olga Bryant kept up her impressive record with a straight sets win to give Cambs a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately this was as good as things got as the match rapidly turned in Warwickshire’s favour. The second round of singles saw defeats for Jon Carson and Jaclyn Lai before the level doubles pairings of Olga Bryant/Amanda Godfrey, Kate Balls/Jaclyn Lai, John Tibbutt/James Wilson and Rob Pace/Jon Carson contrived to lose all eight games in straight sets.

The mixed games were effectively dead rubbers, however veteran Nick Pratt, called back out of retirement to partner fellow veteran Bryant rolled back the years with a truly fantastic nail biting three end win over the extremely strong Warwicks first pair. Balls/Pace were unfortunate to lose out in their close fought match at second pair however Wilson/Godfrey laid down their claim to regular first team mixed with a solid win at third.

This left Cambridgeshire bitterly disappointed to leave empty handed with an 11-4 defeat and slightly confused as to how it went quite so wrong. Strong performances in the singles and mixed (and a lesson that experience and a wise head often count for more than youth and agility), however improvements are needed in level doubles if Cambs are to maintain their position in division 2.

First Team Slump to Second Defeat

Following their heavy defeat in the opening match of the season Cambridgeshire first team faced up to Nottinghamshire 3, a team they beat twice in the previous season.

Early straight sets defeats for Rob Pace and Jon Carson against beatable opposition highlighted the lack of strong mens singles players available. The ladies singles saw Olga Bryant pushed hard before she completed victory in 3 sets, and junior Jaclyn Lai recover from early nerves before just losing out in a tight fought game at second. 

The mens doubles were all extremely tight games, however the results were disappointing with John Tibbutt/James Wilson only taking one of their games and Jon Carson/Peter Galloway losing both.

The ladies doubles however was a different matter with fantastic results for both pairings of Olga Bryant/Alison Bennett and Kate Balls/Jaclyn Lai as they stormed to victory in all four games.

Two out of three mixed were required for a win but the match was lost with a disappointing loss for Balls/Pace, closely followed by a close defeat for Bryant/Carson. Bennett/Tibbutt picked up a consolation game with their second win of the season to leave the final score 8-7.

This is a match that Cambridge really ought to have won and with two consecutive losses leaves the selectors a few decisions to make before the next game.

Congratulations to all the ladies for fantastic performances, and John Tibbutt for picking up two out of three games.

IInd Team Falter in Tough Match

The second fixture of the season started with Jason Lai and Liz Salmon’s singles matches. After an epic battle the young but ever impressive Lai won 21-16, 14-21, 21-16 and produced Cambridgeshire’s first point of the fixture. With a strong set of women the Leicestershire’s first lady beat Salmon in a well battled game14-21, 15-21 to tie the match after the first two games. The second string of games all went to Leicestershire beating Watkins in three 21-16, 14-21, 21-16 and Hayward who was making her first appearance in two 19-21, 11-21.

Entering the doubles games with a three to one deficit, the Cambridgeshire team went down in all four ladies doubles games again illustrating the strength of the Leicestershire women.

The men had slightly better fortune with the pairings of Bates/Couch and Hodgkinson/Watkins both beating the second pair. Both pairs came unstuck loosing in three ends against the first Leicestershire pair.

Having played the singles and doubles Cambridgeshire were 9 – 3 down and playing for the chance of a single point. The first match on was Couch and Salmon who, after a mammoth first end, lost 25-27, 17-21. Thus playing now for pride the final two mixed started their games with Hodgkinson/Chandler after a closely fought first end comfortably won 22-20, 21-8 with some excellent play by Chandler. The final mixed was won by Bates/Godfrey in three, showing superb battling and Cambridgeshire determination to win in three 20-22, 15-21, 21-17. The final score 5-10 in Leicestershire’s favour.