Ist Team Second Victory

Cambs went into todays match against Sussex, knowing that we we're going to face a tougher test than the first match against herts 4, and the mens singles proved to be the case with first singles player Stephen pickering losing in 3, struglling with shuttles that were to fast. And second singles Sam Scharf losing in two. Ladies singles were split with Olga Bryant showing her clas and winning comfortably in two but Jaclyn Lai struggling for consistancy and losing in two. So after the singles Cambs were 3 1 down, looking for more success in the mens doubles than in the mens singles, Sam and Stephen lost there first doubles against the second pair in two but then bounced back to beat the first pair comfortably in two. First doubles pair James Wilson and Neil Place had a similar problem, beat the first pair comfortbly in two games but the lost to the second pair in 3 with some uncharasteristic mistakes.

The ladies doubles had more success with the singles players pairing up, beating the first pair in a battling 3 sets with Olga playing some amazing badminton, and then easily beating the second pair with some great power hitting for Jaclyn dominating the game. Second ladies pair of Liz Salmon and Amanda Godfrey went on against the second pair and fought valiently to beat a determined second pair in 3 followed by going on against the sussex first pair and going down in a very close 3 set battle. So after the double the match score of 6 all meant we needed 2 mixed to win the match, new pairing of Stephen and Olga took the Sussex first pair to pieces to win comfortably in two. Second mixed pairing of Liz and Neil played a dominating game to bully there opponants in to a two victory. Third mixed pairing of Amanda and James, battled through a challenging game to pull out a 3 set victory against the thirds. So another victory for the Cambs first team searching for promotion this year, with a tough game against Kent to come next can we continue the winning streak....

Cambridgeshire Players Tournament

The competitive badminton season got underway with the Cambridgeshire Players Tournament at Littleport when the outstanding performance came from Olga Bryant who won three trophies. She won the Ladies Singles for the 9th successive year when she defeated Jaclyn Lai 21-12, 21-12.

Olga then partnered with Katie Balls took the Ladies Doubles title defeating Jaclyn Lai and Liz Salmon 21-9, 21-12.

Finally in the Mixed Doubles Olga completed the treble with Nick Pratt as a partner. In a tight final match they overcame Stephen Pickering and Sharon Chandler 21-10, 15-21, 21-17.

Over the years the Mens Singles final has often been between Kevin Barron and Mohammed Mustafa. This year they met in the semi-final with Mustafa being successful by 21-15, 21-11. In the final Mustafa defeated Stephen Pickering 21-19, 21-17.

The Mens Doubles final provided the outstanding and closely fought match of the entire tournament. Jason Bryant and Nick Pratt just edging home against Paul Martell and James Wilson 24-22, 20-22, 21-19.

In the plate competition for the first round losers the most promising performance came in the ladies doubles which saw 14 year old Molly Carter and 15 year old Hannah Sharman being successful.

Results

Mens Singles

Mohammed Mustafa beat Stephen Pickering 21/19 21/17

Ladies Singles

Olga Bryant beat Jaclyn Lai 21/12 21/12

Mens Doubles

Nick Pratt & Jason Bryant beat

Paul Martell & James Wilson

24/22 20/22

21/19

Ladies Doubles

Katie Balls & Olga Bryant beat

Jaclyn Lai & Liz Salmon

21/9 21/12

Mixed Doubles

Nick Pratt & Olga Bryant beat

Stephen Pickering & Sharon Chandler

21/10 15/21 21/17

Plate Competition

Mens Singles - J. Pickering

Mens Doubles - D. Dugmore & O. Poyser

Ladies Doubles - M. Carter & H. Sharman

Mixed Doubles - J. Wilson & S. Ashcroft

For further information contact Ken Verney

First Team Relegated Despite Victory

This weekend saw the crucial bottom of the table clash between Cambridgeshire I and Nottinghamshire III, with both teams needing points to avoid relegation. A win would not be be enough for Cambs, who needed the  full 3 points offered by a 10-5 victory to avoid the drop. The usual list of injuries and unavailabilities that has left Cambs in this position was only amplified before this game with just one out of eight nominated players fit and able to play.

With Cambs only regular mens singles player on the injury bench it was left to successful doubles player Neil Place to open up the game. Taking full advantage of his opponent arriving late and missing the warm up Place took  he first set but was outclassed as the Notts player got into his stride, beaten heavily in the remaining two sets. Veteran Kevin Barron, talked out of  retirement to help with the injury crisis reminded everyone of his quality with very confident straight sets victory to level the match. Natalie Taylor, having missed the first half of the season continued her bid to single handedly save Cambs from relegation with a fantastic two set victory, completely justifying her selection as top singles player. Olga Bryant did not let her unusual position of second singles put her off her game as she too continued her bid to regain full fitness with a comfortable victory giving Cambs at 3-1 lead after the singles.

Barron teamed up with fellow retiree Nick Pratt for doubles and came through a nail biting game to beat Notts second pair, using all their experience to win on setting in both ends. Unfortunately their consistent style of play was not suited for their other game, this time beaten on setting in both games. Place and James Wilson, the most successful parternship of this season played some fantastic badminton, mixing flair with determination winning both their games, making it four out of four in the last two county matches.

The ladies doubles saw Taylor team up with club parter Amanda Godfrey to great effect with one straightfoward win before an extremely tense second game which the Cambs pair just held on to take in the third set. Godfrey once again was very impressive on promotion from her second team slot, coping extremely well with the heavy targeted she received from Notts. The new pairing of Bryant and Liz Salmon did not enjoy the same success- the final match of the season not the ideal time to play as a new pair- as they started strongly but faded and were beaten in both games. The three mens and two ladies wins meant Cambs had won the match but still had a mountain to climb- needing two out of three mixed to pull off a miraculous escape and avoid relegation.

Such was the close matched standard of the players that all three mixed games went the distance to three ends as the pairs of Bryant/Pratt, Taylor/Wilson and Salmon/Place gave everything they had to try to save the county. Disappointingly all three games went to Notts, and while avoiding a cliche the games really could have gone either and whoever lost would have felt hard done by. All three pairs played to their potential, with just a couple of understandably nervous shots costing the team in the end.

So a bittersweet victory for Cambs as they won 8-7 but were relegated to division 3. A good win though over a strong team and the players should take great credit for their performances. It was results earlier in the season that cost Cambs, leaving them too far adrift for recent back to back victories to save them. A lack of consistency- 8 different teams fielded for the 8 matches, with not a single player featuring in every match was responsible for failure this season, however recent results show Cambs are more than capable of competing in this division and after a brief interlude fully expect to be back where they belong in division 2 next season.​

Defeat, But Hopefully Safety for Seconds

Cambs went away to Leicestershire hoping for at least a point to finally put them safe from relegation next year. There was some dismay at the apparent strength of the Leicester side as the men's singles started. Neil Place fought valiantly with only one good ankle to lose 24-22 21-16 . Jason Lai suffered against older opposition but continued to work hard in the second end to improve on his first game score. The ladies singles went the same way with Liz Salmon having several small runs of points but not achieving enough to take an end. Tracey Hayward reluctantly declined to play singles due to a dodgy back so Sandra Ashcroft stepped in. Sandra had some excellent cross court shots that were leaving her opponent for dead, but sadly Sandra's experience is strong for doubles and her killer shots kept finding the side tramlines. 

The men's doubles showed more of a glimmer of hope when Rob Couch & Daniel Bates took an end off Leics. first pair, sadly this form did not hold to lose the third end 21-16 16-21 18-21. Neil Place and James Watkins also took the first men's pair to 3 ends, again narrowly missing out 14-21 21-18 17-21. It later transpired the Leicester pair were not on usual form, being tired from winning the U18 England championship the previous day. The second pair were vicious in their attacking and beat the Cambs Men in 2 ends each.

Sandra Ashcroft and Liz Salmon paired up and took the early lead against the Leics first ladies winning the first end. Things slipped quickly though until there was an injury in the Leicester pair. Sadly time did not improve the situation and Leics had to concede both rubbers. The second Leics ladies pair did not have much trouble beating both Cambs pairs, so Lisa Hawes & Tracey Hayward just had 2 games together.

Cambs were 10-2 down going into the mixed so with the elusive point already but of reach and sore bodies affecting Neil Place and Tracey H in two Cambs pairs there was little hope left. All 3 pairs- Neil Place & Liz Salmon, Rob Couch & Sandra Ashcroft and Daniel Bates & Tracey H lost in 2 ends each.

Sadly the brownie could not do too much to lift spirits on the way home, but when after Rob finally admitted defeat with his sat nav and the team followed an unerring instinct to the nearest pub the team's spirits lifted. After defeating Beds 2 in both fixtures this year the only way for Cambs not to be safe from relegation would be an unlikely win for bottom team Beds over league leaders Kent. Wishing the best of luck to Kent in their forthcoming match, we hope to look forward to improving our place in division 4 again next year! 

Under 19 Junior Restricted Results

The Cambridgeshire Under 19 Junior Restricted Tournament was held at Burwell Sports Centre attracting over 40 entries.

The tournament provided success for the Lai family.  In the Girls Singles Jaclyn Lai retained her title by defeating Hannah Sharman 21-17.  Then in the doubles she was successful in partnership with Carolyn Key.  They met stern opposition from Rachael Farrington and Hannah Sharman before running out winners 21-18.

There was a major upset in the Boys Singles when the holder and favourite James Watkins went out in the semi-finals to Samuel Pickup 21-15.  The other semi-final saw Jaclyn younger brother Jason cruise to victory against Jack Boyns by 21-9.  In the final Jason added to the Lai family success by beating Samuel Pickup 21-11.

In the semi-final of the doubles Jack Boyns and James Watkins defeated the under 15 champions Thomas Li and Joshua Males 21-10.  Jason Lai and Samual Pickup then teamed up to beat Imran Ashraf and Matthew Price 21-17.  However in the final Jason Lai was not able to make it a clean sweep for the Lai family as he and Samuel Pickup lost out to Jack Boyns and James Watkins who won 21-19

Nail Biting Finish for First Team

It is easy to blame the lack of success this season on the host of injuries and unavailabilities that have plagued the first team this year, however with only one of the eight nominated first team players available to play Warwickshire III it was always going to be tough to avenge the defeat from earlier in the season.

Captain Rob Pace, the only Cambs player not to have missed a match for the county this season continued his impressive singles run- opening the match with a strong win over Warwicks' top player. Unfortunately Richard Fryer, suffering from a slight lack of recent practice was not able to convert his game, going down in straight sets. Natalie Taylor continued her drive back to fitness with a confidence boosting win in a close fought two set match, and the singles honours were shared evenly as Liz Salmon was solidly beaten at second singles.

The mens doubles saw the singles players team up together, however Pace/Fryer found their touch completely deserted them as they suffered two extremely disappointing defeats. Thankfully new pairing of James Wilson/Neil Place came to the rescue by beating both Warwicks' pairings in close games, playing extremely well together to ensure the spoils were also split in the mens doubles.

Taylor teamed up with her club partner Amanda Godfrey for the ladies doubles and had mixed success, with a close win over one Warwicks pair, but just losing out to the other. It was up to the second team pairing of Salmon/Sandra Ashcroft to tie the match going into the mixed and things looked to be on track as they won the first set against the second pair before just going down in three sets, then losing in two sets to the top pairing.

This left Cambs 7-5 down with 3 mixed to play, needing one for a consolation point or all three for an unlikely win. Salmon/Place first took on Warwicks third pair and played a fantastic game, coming back from a distinctly fishy first set to take the game 22-20 in the third and ensuring Cambs would not go home empty handed. Next Taylor/Fryer had a monumental battle against the very strong first pair, again recovering from a first set defeat to take the remaining two sets 29-27, 23-21. This tied the scores, meaning the match would be decided on the very last game of the day. A victory looked on as Godfrey/Wilson ran away with the first set but a Warwicks revival saw the second set lost and meant the entire tie rested on the final set of the final game. A 9 point gap opened up as Cambs lead 18-9, however incredibly Warwicks fought back to take the match score came to 7 games all, 1 set all, 20 all. The closest possible finish to a match saw Cambs win 22-20 in the final set and take the match 8-7.

A fantastic victory which gives Cambs a glimmer of hope of avoiding relegation- a 10-5 victory over Notts is now required to stay up.

Seconds Well Beaten by League Favourites

After a rather convoluted central London journey courtesy of a quirky German satellite navigator, Cambs II arrived at the splendid Park Langley Club to face league leaders Kent III. While the men were a relatively familiar team of James Watkins, Rob Couch, Daniel Bates and Will Hodgkinson, the ladies enjoyed a blend of some new faces, and an opportunity for junior talent to get more experience under their belt.  Tracey Hayward played with Lisa Hawes, Hannah Sharman and Rachael Farrington.

Knowing that Kent were promotion candidates, and facing them on their (superb) home territory, Cambs knew that they were facing a tough battle. With four courts available, all the singles went on together, and with umpires as well it became a battle for the remaining spectators to support any particular game with our usual gusto, and keep track of the scores.  It became apparent early on that the men were going to be outgunned in their singles, with Rob suffering at the hands of a very promising performance by Kent’s Ryan Staden.  James fared slightly better, but was still beaten in two.  The girls on the other hand got off to a flying start, with both Tracey and Rachael taking their first ends.  Sadly though, the Kent ladies regained their composure and applied more pressure to win through. 

The doubles saw a collection of nail-biting games for the men.  Against the first pair, Rob and Daniel took the lead, and believed they were taking the game in the second before a late and blatant line call error stripped them of their advantage and their concentration.  In the second game, Rob and Daniel regained their composure, and asserted themselves well to take it in two – with Rob gaining his revenge from the singles.  James and Will fought hard and long, but were taken in three in both their doubles games, but only to sets in the third against the Kent 2nd pair.

The ladies suffered more, going down to straight sets in all their games. This didn’t mean that they didn’t fight though, and real effort was made to push Kent all the way. Coming to the mixed the consolation point had already slipped away, and it was clear that Cambs had a mountain to climb.  Indeed all three pairs were taken in two games, although again scores were in the high teens or sets for nearly all. 

So Cambs came home with a 14-1 loss under their belts, but again the overall score in no way reflected the quality of the games.  The players all had good hard games, and many of the scores went into the high teens.  Cambs did not feel overwhelmed, and Kent will have left knowing they’d been given a good testing.  It’s a cliché, but this will still have been a valuable experience for some of our junior players, who form the County’s future – not least with Rachael tasting first blood in the singles.