Cornwall 1 v Somerset 2, 14.12.13

 Christmas comes early for the 1^st team

A wet and windy day brought Somerset to Polkyth Leisure Centre to take on Cornwall’s top badminton players, who were seeking to bounce back following a chastening defeat to Dorset a couple of weeks ago.

This time the Cornish singles players were in no mood to compromise and raced to a 4-0 match lead, with both Shane Maton and James Whetter winning easily, closely followed by the ladies, Rose Willis and Jo Philp who also won in straight sets, getting the team off to a fine start.

The men powered on in the doubles, James and Guy Michell particularly dynamic and overwhelming the Somerset opposition in both games, although Shane and Ross Lashbrook were disappointed to lose one of theirs to a pair of young players.

Somerset fought back in the ladies, taking all 4 games , despite both of our pairs going close with 3 ends against an experienced duo. Emily James and Vicki Thomas displayed great fighting spirit to narrowly win the second end after a heavy defeat in the first, but finally just lost out.

With the score at 7-5, the match was finally balanced going into the final 3 games of mixed – would Somerset win all 3 and gain an unlikely victory, or would the home team edge the one game they needed to clinch the match?

Any doubt quickly disappeared as number 1’s James and Jo continued their impressive form and won comfortably in 2 sets, showing great skill and reaction speed to outclass their opponents.

Shane and Vicki, followed suit, also winning well in two ends against a father and daughter pair who had also looked a potential threat.

The final game, saw Ross and Rose needing to win to give the team maximum points, and this turned into a nail-biting 3 ends with the Cornish pair losing the first end heavily. Thankfully they stormed back to take the next two, Ross’s power and Rose’s steady hand seeing the home side triumph, to win the match 10-5 overall.

The team’s next home match is on January 12^th when Wiltshire come to take on the 1^st team – all spectators welcome.

Team –

Shane Maton, James Whetter, Guy Michell, Ross Lashbrook, Rose Willis, Jo Philp, Emily James, Vicki Thomas

Cornwall 2 v Isle of Wight 1

Our latest contest saw the 2nds take on Isle of Wight 1^st team at Polkyth in what was hoped to be continuation of an on-form Cornish side. In order to give our side a fighting chance of promotion it was important to demonstrate depth of ability in singles, doubles and mixed. Recent contests involving Isle of Wight have been unpredictable, as they have the ability to field out a strong team, but appear to struggle to do this on a consistent basis. On this occasion however, the islanders appeared to have fielded a competent composition of players.

Kris Jasper took on a formidable challenger in the first singles, scoring our first rubber of the day. Dave Harrington’s attempt to make friends with his opposition resulted in Brian Hannibal acting as scorer for the men’s second singles, which Dave comfortably won in straight games. The ladies saw Hester Luke maintain consistent form, winning in two ends, whilst new recruit Beth Wotton eventually lost out in two tight games. After singles, Cornwall – 3 Isle of Wight - 1

In one of our strongest events, men’s doubles saw our team notch up another four rubbers. Against the first pairing, veterans Kahoo Tse & Anthony Clark took a mid-game snooze, losing the second end only to take the third comfortably and beating the second pairing with little resistance in two ends. Richard Townsend & Dave remained focused winning both doubles in straight games. On the ladies side, Laura Harper & Lynda Beer struggled against an experienced first pairing but redeemed themselves against the second pairing. In our second partnership Hester & Beth displayed a composed performance, having been taken against both pairings to three sets but coming out on top in fine style. After doubles, Cornwall – 10 Isle of Wight - 2

With all three points secured and mixed doubles still to come, Cornwall 2nds were under no pressure to win their mixed but would use this as a training opportunity for tougher matches to come. Experienced pairing Kahoo & Lynda started where they finished last season, exhibiting a controlled and consistent game that produced an impressive win against their opposition. Dave & Laura complemented our first mixed, disposing a good second pairing in straight games. Isle of Wight obtained only their third rubber of the match, getting the better of Kris & Hester. Final score, Cornwall – 12 Isle of Wight - 3

With a perfect success rate of three points from three matches and no fixtures until next February, the 2nds can enjoy Christmas and New Year and have plenty of time to burn off those Christmas calories before our next competition.

For full results follow this link

More Bonanza winners pics

more Bonanza winners

Bonanza 2013

A Bonanza of Badminton, Carn Brea Leisure Centre, 23^rd November 2013

Over 80 badminton players from all over Cornwall joined our visitors from Devon and Gloucestershire, at Carn Brea Leisure Centre at the weekend to take part in Cornwall Badminton Association’s Bonanza.

The idea of Badminton Bonanza tournaments is to give both social players and those who play league badminton a chance to try out and develop their skills against different players. The many regulars were joined this time by some very welcome new faces, as the tournament goes from strength to strength, with any profits going towards developing new clubs in Cornwall.

This year’s tournament at the Pool centre was another great success, and many thanks go to the Carn Brea staff who came to the rescue when our original venue, the new Truro School sports hall  cancelled at the eleventh hour. The visiting Gloucestershire players proved hard to beat in the league section, winning the men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles, although the Cornish girls were too strong in the ladies singles and doubles and they won through in these finals.

The social section again gave the chance for the local players to shine, and they triumphed in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles, with the ladies singles and doubles just going to the Gloucestershire girls, before their long trip home.

 Results:

Singles Social mens winner – Martin Penney, runner up Jake Turpie

Singles League mens winner – Simon Gay, runner up James Newman

Singles Social ladies winner – Lizzy Seabridge, runner up Julie Norbury

Singles League ladies winner – Kassy Bull, runner up Kelly Freeman

Mens doubles social winners –Bill Edgar and Chris McCarthy

                                Runners up – Mike Ezra and Martin Penney

Mens doubles league winners – Simon Gay and James Newman

                                Runners up – Simon Forni and Adam Hauser

Ladies doubles social winners – Lizzy Seabridge and Julie Norbury

                                Runners up – Zelda Bennett and Marnie Boston

Ladies doubles league winners – Debbie Blight and Kay Bossenger

                                Runners up –  Val Reed and Jessica Reed

Mixed doubles social winners –Chris McCarthy and Tamsyn Cleave

                                Runners up – Adam Hauser and Lizzy Seabridge

Mixed doubles league winners – Simon Gay and Kelly Freeman

                                Runners up – James Newman and Julie Norbury