Cambs 3 win 1 lose 2 in difficult, but very fun final weekend!

Hey folks, Simon Parker here reporting for Cambs3's last weekend! So much to tell, but will try to keep it as brief as possible! Campbell stolen by the 2s and Rachel unable to play, Mike and Alison subbed in.

Lost 6-5 to northants2
Lost the first 6 games (all the singles and 1 mens), won the next 5. Lots of close ends but we were well beaten in the singles. 10-minute highly embarrassing score row in the middle of Me and Mike's men's (are we 19-16 up or 19-18 up?) Eventually settled on 19-17 and then won the last two points anyway rendering the whole thing completely pointless. Cringe. Good win for Ruth & Alison in the ladies in 3 close ends.

Lost 9-2 to Suffolk2
Very comfortably beaten in all of the singles except mine against their 3rd man which I managed to scrape. Lost all the rest except me and Mikes doubles which we won in three; won 21-10 in the last after a great piece of advice from Mike which really deconstructed them as a pair. Liz & Mike very nearly took their mixed but lost 21-18 in the 3rd - pretty good for a pair who had never played together before!

NOW THE FUN BEGINS

So the 2nds had TWO injuries on Saturday, which meant they took Alex and Tom (the only two players not staying overnight in Oakham!) for the Sunday. I then spent about 2 hours on the phone to various reserve men to see if anyone would make the trip. My first 10-15 players couldn't make it SLASH couldn't drive and weren't up for taking the train. I eventually managed to recruit Martin Crossley and Chris Parker to take the train up and play - I swear to god I'm not just being "that guy" and asking my brother/clubmate, I genuinely did ask everyone on the reserve list plus a few others!!!

Fresh from that stress, the remaining 7 of us went out for dinner and drinks, which was actually really good fun :)

On the Sunday, Martin and Chris managed to miss their stop (ahhhh!). Meaning Liz had to sit around for about an hour until they arrived in Peterborough to pick them up (THANKS LIZ!). Everyone was late. Negotiations with the opposition ensued but they were graceful, thankfully.

Won 6-5 Against Lincs2
Once again, we lost all of our singles (partly because all 3 of our normal singles men were taken by the bloody 2nd team at this point hehe) except Alison who took hers in two very tidy ends. We then won almost all of the remaining fixtures, including Chris & Bertie's mens and Martin/Kerry's Mixed. Alison and Ruth unfortunately struggled against a strong 2nd pair, but in the best viewed game of the season, Kerry and Mike won the very final game 28-26 sealing the win to rapturous applause and many-a high five!

A really fun season in the end and a really good atmosphere within the team throughout the weekend. I'm sad it's over now! Thanks to everyone that played for us over the season :)

U13s Victorious in First Friendly Match

View fullsize

Cambs' new U13 team

A new Cambs U13 team travelled to Northamptonshire on Sunday to play a friendly match against the Northants juniors.

With no Cambs U13 team in the Shires County League this season, or for the last few years, it was a momentous occasion for this group of players to get on the road and experience inter-County badminton.

In a superb result, the Cambs juniors secured a 12-8 victory.  With several players in the squad who still qualify as U11s, it was a very promising result from the team.

A team photograph, and the full match results sheet, is available in the Gallery section.

Thanks so much to new team managers Sue and Anil, and to the Northants squad for such a warm welcome.

Congratulations players!!  Hopefully this is the first taste of success leading to many future wins!

O50 Match report and ICC weekend roundup

Over 50's Away v Essex, Sunday 17th January

Team - Martin Smith, Martyn Clark, John Harvey, Peter Coleman, Angela Sharman, Dianne Baker, Carol Salmon, Xin Cheng.

We put up a spirited fight against a strong Essex team, but despite some close games were unable to convert any into a win.The final score of a 12-0 home win does not do justice to the games played on the day.

Well done and thanks to the team for their commitment and support. And a special thanks to our "super sub" Peter Coleman.

Round up of the ICC masters weekend for the over 50's team

Team - Martin Smith, Martyn Clark, John Harvey, John Pickering, Angela Sharman, Dianne Baker, Helen Taylor, Xin Cheng.

Following a late alteration we were pitted against Derbyshire, Notts, Norfolk and Shropshire, playing each team twice over the weekend and each rubber consisting of 2 games thus enabling a draw.

On Saturday we drew 2-2 with Shropshire, lost 3-1 to Norfolk, lost 2-0 to Notts with the other 2 games being a 1-1 draw and lost 3-0 to Derby, again with 1 match drawn.

After some fine food and entertainment on Saturday evening we were back on court "bright" and early, 9.00am on Sunday. We managed another 2-2 draw with Shropshire, bettered our score against Norfolk with a 2-2 draw, equalled our score of a 2-0 loss to Notts, and lost 4-0 to Derby.

Sadly we ended the weekend a close 5th with 3 points. Shropshire pipped us to 4th with 4 points, however we out performed them on rubbers, games and points, but their 1 win gave them the extra point.

All in all a good weekend with some good badminton and entertainment.

Many thanks to the team for their support.

Martin Smith, Captain

Upcoming Cambridgeshire Junior Tournaments

A number of competitive opportunities are available for junior players in and around Cambridgeshire in the New Year.

6 February sees the Suffolk U15 Bronze, which is a national circuit tournament for strong County players.  The Luton U15 Bronze follows closely behind on 13 February.

For U13s, the Essex U13 Bronze is on 21 February

On 21st February the U15 County Restricted will be held at Burwell Sports Centre from 1pm.  This is a tournament to determine the strongest County players in a specific age category.

On 27th February another Fun Tournament for U11, U13 and U15 age groups will be held at the One Leisure indoor centre in St Ives, from 9am.  The Fun Tournaments are aimed at ensuring enjoyment for players of any standard to get an experience of competitive play.

Entry forms for the local tournaments are available to download from the Tournament Entry Forms page.

Colchester Junior Level 1 Tournament 23 January

Often children are concerned about playing tournaments - getting started in can be tricky if they are worried that the don't have the experience to go straight into a Circuit, or even a Forza tournament.

Colchester & East Essex Badminton Federation have had the excellent idea of running a 'Level 1' tournament.  Level 1 events are aimed at school or club players with limited competitive experience. Entries will not be accepted from previous winners or pool winners at 2* events or anyone that has played in national age group tournaments (Gold, Silver, Bronze).  Entries are based on school years instead of U13/U15/U17 so children are more likely to be competing with players their own age.

Entries close on Friday 15 January, so if this sounds like a good opportunity for your child to get a taste of competitive play, then please download the entry form.

Festival of Inclusive Badminton Championed by Paralympic Athletes

View fullsize

On 12th December both Olympic and Paralympic athletes are swapping their world class opponents for disabled beginners and enthusiasts, in order to inspire a new generation to take part in all-inclusive badminton.

Power2Inspire and CADMuS are collaborating to bring the first Festival of Inclusive Badminton to Cambridge. The event – to be held at the University Sports Centre – will bring together disabled athletes of all body types and abilities, whether beginners or not, to try out inclusive badminton. There will be coaching for all standards and the opportunity for people from the community with disabilities to come along and have a go, even if they have never picked up a racket.

And there will be a number of special guests including recently crowned triple gold medallist at the Para-Badminton World Championships Rachel Choong. Members of England’s Para-Badminton squad will also be attending. England Para-Badminton player Daniel Lee is very enthusiastic about the day:

“It’s a great opportunity for disabled and non disabled players to mix together… I have been playing badminton for Team England for 5 years now… and I really encourage disabled people to join in. I have made so many friends through Para-Badminton and still am. Join in! The sport is a life changer.”

So, if you have a disability or impairment and you thought you would never play sport again, maybe watching these amazing stars play high level competitive sport will encourage you to take up the game!

So please feel free to contact Steve Morley – steve.morley@power2inspire.org.uk – if you are interested in attending, taking part, or even taking on one of the stars!

Match Report for Cambs Over 50's away v Herts, Sunday 22/11/15

Team: Martyn Clark, Martin Smith, Wilfried Janssen, Mark Talbot, Angela Sharman, Dianne Baker, Helen Taylor, Xin Cheng.

Mens doubles

Martyn Clark and Martn Smith, lost a close three ender against Herts 1st pair, 20-22, 21-18, 21-16, but beat their 2nd pair in two ends. 
Wilf and Mark won both of their games beating the 2nds in two ends and winning a tight three ender 23-25 to complete the double.

Ladies Doubles

Angela and Di and Helen and Xin had some good games with Angela and Di taking their 2nd pair to 3 ends. Unfortunately, despite battling hard were unable to convert any games to our advantage.

Mixed Doubles

Martyn and Di fought hard but lost in 2 ends.
Martin and Angela took a comfortable win in 2 ends.
Wilf and Xin had a tough fight with a 3 end win 23-21 14-21 18-21.
Mark and Helen were the last game on and a win from them would give us a draw. However, after a hard fight their scores were 15-21 21-17 25-23.

All in all a very good match in which any of our pairs could have taken us to a draw with 1 more win.

Final score 7-5 to Herts, 16-14 in games, but 548-552 on points.

Thank You and WELL PLAYED TEAM :-)

Martin Smith