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What A Difference A Day Makes For Saints B
26th March 2007

St. Mary’s B team proved that a day can make all the difference when it comes to badminton. One night the Saints looked destined for the drop into mixed division 2 and a day later survival looked a distinct possibility. The Saints were on the receiving end of an 8-1 pummelling at the hands of Canons B, led by Nigel Coombs and Sally Hill, and relegation seemed all but certain, with a gap of 3 points between them and safety.

Little was expected the next evening when St. Mary’s faced Newbury A, who although are having not the best of seasons, still had over triple the points the Saints had accumulated from the same amount of matches. However the advantage was handed to the home side when Newbury turned up with only two pairs, but still the match was there to be lost, and lost it nearly was. The Newbury pairing of Moore and Thorne ripped into the league strugglers and took all three of their rubbers in efficient manner, and with one game to go the score was tied at 4-4.

Up stepped the much-journeyed pair of Pam Norman and Tony Glinos to clinch the tie for the Saints with a comfortable 15-8, 15-4 that saw them move within 1 point of safety, and to drag Newbury into a relegation dogfight.

Elsewhere in the same division, the tussle for the title was still being fought as both St. Mary’s A and Shaw A took to the courts, with both sides needing to beat their opponents 9-0 to stop handing an advantage to the other. Shaw A travelled to Newbury and despite much effort from Shelia Moore and Nigel Thorne, who went to three in all their rubbers, they could not prevent the reigning champions from scoring a whitewash. Once again Turner and Beavis were dominant and were aided as usual in similar fashion by Bod Norman and Becks Chivers.

St Mary’s A, not wishing to disappoint the neutrals, followed suit and they too racked up a 9-0 victory with Aldermaston playing the role of the hapless victim. Despite Janine Fisher and Arthur King’s best efforts to lose a rubber by going to three in two of their games, they struggled through to keep Saints title challenge alive. Margaret Mason and Mark Ferguson were once again consistent in their demolition of opponents and conceded only 21 points on the night.

In Mixed Division 2 Shaw B clinched the title after beating Bucklebury 9-0 in a rather one-sided affair. The Bucks, who are desperate for points to avoid relegation, struggled to counter the well-rehearsed Shaw pairs, who showed no weakness despite missing two of their regular players. The best performance came from the racquets of Jackie Beaver and Jason White, who showed no mercy even to Paul Madden, the Bucks skipper, whose birthday celebrations ended on a losing note.

Shaw C kept their place just behind their counterparts, to keep a Shaw one, two on the cards. They welcomed the visit of Canons B, whose place in the lower division next year had already been sealed. Shaw’s Sally Norman and Thomas Bass were unlucky not to come out winning all three of their rubbers, but despite losing one they paved the way for another Shaw win. Lisa Campbell and Paul Rabbetts gave their all for Canons and took all three points but it was not enough as their team went down 6-3.

Continuing on in the same division, Newbury B and Kennet A scrapped it out for mid-table positions. The match was evenly poised throughout with 6 of the 9 rubbers played being halved. It was only until the final game when the tie was decided, as Dave Morris and Fiona Harris secured the half that meant Kennet would take the win, and leave Newbury with that familiar losing feeling.

In the Mens league, Division 1 saw only two matches this week, both involving relegation contenders Newbury who knew that anything other than two victories would condemn them to division 2 badminton next season. Their first opponents were fellow strugglers Kintbury, who themselves were in need of a win to keep Division 1 status for next season. Kintbury, however, shot themselves in the foot even before a shuttle was hit by turning up with only two pairs. Newbury took this advantage and ran with it, coming out 7-2 winners, led by Bryan Eastwood and Dave Green, for their first win of the season.

Despite this glimmer of hope the next team Newbury had to face was high flying Canons, who were sitting pretty in third position in the league, but they were in no mood to hand out favours. Despite a valiant effort from all three of Newburys pairs, Canons proved too strong and came away with a hard fought 6-3 win, with Per Lauridsen and Bob Crichton causing most of the damage. It left Newbury contemplating life in Mens Division 2 for the first time in their history.

Two teams who will not be with Newbury in Mens Division 2 neaxt season, for different reasons are Wantage and Newbury B. Title winners Wantage kept their unbeaten run going by securing a 9-0 home win against a depleted Newbury B side, whose relegation had already been confirmed. Once again Pratchett and Jones were dominant and Beasley and Owen followed suit notching a brisk 9-0 drubbing of sorry Newbury.

Elsewhere, Firefly staged a smash and grab victory over a relegated Shaw C side, which showed some fight in the form of Rick Stone and Thomas Bass. The pair took all three of their rubbers, but it was not enough as Mike Turrell and Scott Armstead piloted firefly to a 5-4 win.

In Mens Division 3 Downlands and Greenacres battled it out for the wooden spoon spot. Downlands put their vast home advantage to good use in securing an 8-1 win Paul South and Simon Packett leading the way. Koorosh Newn and Peter Drummond won the consolation point for Greenacres.

Wantage Run Broken At Last
19th March 2007

It’s been a busy week for the men in the Newbury and District Badminton Association leagues. In division 2, Wantage finally let slip their perfect record. Their eight previous matches had all been 9-0 victories, but when hosting Downlands, the visitors’ Jeshtadi and Leatham won a tight three-setter against Pratchett and Jones in the evening’s opening rubber. There were no more slip-ups though, as Wantage ran away to an 8-1 victory and seem to be on the way to a record-breaking season. On this form, they will be a force in Division 1 once more.

Downlands remain favourites to claim the runners up position, with Cannons’ B team helping their cause by upsetting hosts Bucklebury in a match that saw both teams field only two pairs, leading to an unfamiliar 3-5 score-line.

In Division 1, it’s been a good week for Shaw’s 2 teams. The A team continued their relentless push towards yet another title. This time it was Cannons that fell to the reigning champions, with Andy Norman and Mike Pembroke in ruthless form as they dropped only 20 points all evening, as Shaw won 7-2.

Less predictable was the game in the same division between Shaw’s B string and Kennet A, and the teams were deadlocked at 3-3 entering the final three rubbers. Perhaps the pivotal rubber of the match then went to Shaw as Mackley and White completed their third win of the evening against Kennet’s top pairing of Chris Tompkins and Gary Chambers. Shaw’s other pairs took confidence from this result, and went on to complete a solid 6-3 victory. This result lifted Shaw into mid-table and has surely condemned Newbury and Kintbury to the drop.

In Division 3, new champions Kennet-B completed a clean sweep to finish with the maximum 24 points from their 12 matches. Their final victims were Newbury-C, as Kennet stormed to a 9-0 victory, with Malcolm Taylor and David Bilton in dominant form. In sharp contrast, Kennet’s C team slumped to their tenth defeat of the season at Hurst, who now hold second position and must be favourites to join Kennet B in division 2 next season. The 9-0 demolition of Kennet C was led by Rob Badcock and Dan Hartwell. St Mary’s B team haven’t given up hope of pipping Hurst to the runners-up position though, and their 9-0 thumping of Greenacre kept their hopes alive, as Greenacre failed to break into double figures all night.

In the Ladies-6 top division, we’ll have to wait for the final game of the season before knowing who will be champions. A tight tussle between St Mary’s and Newbury ended in a 4-4 tie, which means that St Mary’s chance of glory has now gone. All now rests on the match between St Mary’s and Shaw – a Shaw win will take the title, but should they lose out, then Newbury will be champions.

It is equally tight in Division 2, where Whitchurch now head the table after a fine 6-3 victory over Kennet, that was gained despite only having two pairs. The home pairings of Dennett&Prior and Hazell&Abbott were just too strong for the visiting Kennet team.

Juniors Enjoy Tournament of Firsts
12th March 2007

A new event featured on the local badminton scene recently. Played alongside the Mixed doubles tournament reported last week, the first ever junior tournament was held for players in school year 11 and under. Junior badminton has been booming with two dedicated clubs and a number of sections attached to senior clubs.

Seven pairs from four clubs played to a Swiss format – something else not tried before. Each played six games to 21 using the new scoring system – another first. In each round, the pairs with the closest cumulative scores play each other and so the games get closer as the pairs become better matched. Round 6 saw two games scored at 21-20 and the final round two games 21-18. When all was worked out and the scores added up, Jack Andrews and Joe Brown from St Mary’s were in 3rd place with 172 points; runners up were cousins Lisa Apsey and Rhian Jenkins from Aldermaston – watched by their grandmother Joan Vinall, an Aldermaston player herself. The winners, by just one point with 180, were Rob Fulker and Owen Prentice from Downlands.

In league play, three mixed doubles results were recorded, one from each division. At the top, Aldermaston hosted St Mary’s B and an injury affecting the niece / uncle partnership of Rhian Jenkins and Chris Apsey saw them conceding two rubbers as the visitors won 6-3. The three won, however, were secured by Helen Apsey – keeping it in the family – with the ever steady Keith Fleming. St Mary’s badly needed the win, but it seems unlikely to prevent the drop to Division 2 where Kennet A improved their chance of replacing St Mary’s next season with a 6-3 result at home to Downlands A. Nominated as third pair, Mary-Anne Stephens and Ananya Jeshtadi nevertheless took all three rubbers for Downlands going the distance with Linda Hayes and Steve Pennington. In the lowest division both Downlands B and Kintbury B could produce only two pairs and a drawn match at 2-2, with the local hostelry probably being the winner on the evening!

In the ladies section, Rhian Jenkins was again in action for Aldermaston who fielded three junior players in a 5-1 victory over Newbury. Combining first with Pippa Dines and then with Julie Ward, Rhian took all three rubbers quite comfortably. Aldermaston’s men also took their chances well in tight mid-table encounter with Newbury C. David Adams and veteran Bill Jones cruised the evening for Newbury, but Gerald Blackaller and Nick Jasper made sure of a final 5-4 tally.

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