The cream of Cornwall’s badminton players converged on Polkyth Leisure Centre on 28th/29th September for the two day annual Championships, entertaining the many spectators with exciting play and high standards. Once again, there was a large entry from Cornwall Youth Badminton’s fast improving young players, showing the excellent foundation that Cornish Badminton is built upon.
Two new singles champions emerged victorious on the first day, Shane Maton and Rose Willis, both coming from under the shadows of the number 1 seeds and holding champions, James Whetter and Jo Philp.
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| Ladies & Mens Singles Winners & Runners up |
Rose had narrowly lost to Jo last year, but finally triumphed for the first time and took a deserved victory over Hester Luke in the final with her consistent and steady play. Jo had been beaten in a tight game in the quarter finals by 15 year old Kellen Moore in the first shock of the day, after Kellen had narrowly beaten Emily James in the first round. Kellen then came up against Hester in the semis, and this turned out to be a 3 ender too far, with Hester’s power and precision proving too much for the younger player.
Then the second surprise of the weekend came in the mens singles, when defending champion, the experienced James Whetter was knocked out by the speedy, skilful Kris Jasper in the semi finals. The top 4 seeds had made it comfortably through to the semis, with Ross Lashbrook losing to Shane Maton in the other half of the draw. The battle of the left handers in the final saw Shane’s fitness and speed around the court triumph over Kris in two ends, and he re-gained the title he had won 2 years ago.
The ladies doubles was played on the first day following the singles, and this was another exhibition of cool, mature play from the promising young pair of Kellen Moore and Amy Polglaze, who reached the final by knocking out the number 2 seeds, Emily James and Vicki Thomas. But they were no match for the strength and determination of Jo Philp and Rose Willis who retained their title with style in the final.
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| Ladies Doubles Runners up & Winners |
The second day saw more great badminton, this time with the men’s doubles and the mixed, when the tension and excitement was notched up again.
The biggest crowd ever seen for a mixed doubles match was treated to the best final of the weekend, when first and second seeds James Whetter/Jo Philp and Shane Maton/Vicki Thomas clashed in 3 close fought ends. Some stunning net play by Jo and unplayable service returning from Shane had the crowd gasping and enthralled, before James and Jo finally retained their crown. Before this, both semi-finals had been tight affairs over 3 ends which could have gone either way, as new pairings of Guy Michell/Emily James and Tom Lyle/Rose Willis pushed the top seeds all the way before just losing out.
With the final event the men’s doubles competition, the spectators were once again treated to some fast, attacking badminton and great defensive play on show. Once more, the top 2 seeds were largely untroubled on their route through to the final, which saw James and Guy take on Tom and Ross in a repeat of the previous year’s final. This year James and Guy proved too strong for the younger pair, and they won in 2 ends with a combination of sheer power and deft cross court play.
Results:
Men’s singles – Shane Maton bt Kris Jasper 21/14 22/20
Ladies’ singles – Rose Willis bt Hester Luke 21/17 21/12
Men’s doubles – James Whetter/Guy Michell bt Tom Lyle/Ross Lashbrook 21/19 21/14
Ladies’ doubles – Jo Philp/Rose Willis bt Kellen Moore/Amy Polglaze 21/13 21/15
Mixed doubles – James Whetter/Jo Philp bt Shane Maton/Vicki Thomas 11/21 22/20 21/16
Plate result - winners
Mens singles – Chris Glasson
Ladies singles – Daphne Luke
Mens doubles – Bob Bell/Nick Phelps
Ladies’ doubles – Beth Wotton/Beth Rich
Mixed doubles – Lee Chapple/Hester Luke