badminton match 2

New Malden 6
St Andrews 3

Hybrid Division 1

A difficult match against a strong New Malden side who fielded two of their top men, Robin and Dennis. First on were Steve & Sarah, who lost in straight games. Then it was Scott & Sowji's turn - they won and levelled the match. I played as Man 4 so I was third on with Gerry. After a nervy start, just losing 21-23, we woke up and returned the compliment 23-21, but both me and Gerry made a few unforced errors and didn't make them move enough, losing the 3rd game and 3rd rubber. So, 2-1 to New Malden after the first 3.

Watching from the benches, I didn't think our ladies pair would win their rubber as both women had very similar styles of play with not nearly enough contrast. I was mistaken though. After a spurious line call by Sarah which hugely irritated one of their ladies (even though the closest player to the shuttle always gets to make the call) they too won in straight games, levelling at 2-2.

Scott continued to play well and won the titanic Man 1/Man 2 clash with Steve, putting us 3-2 ahead for what was to be the only time in the entire match. I was next on with Sowji but a combination of terrible play from me and not keeping a level head saw us throw away valuable points. I rescued a few towards the end of our rubber but it was too little too late. Similarly, Gerry and Sarah got shot down in straight games, putting New Malden 4-3 ahead with 2 rubbers to go. Unfortunately my final rubber of the day was with Scott against their top two men, which was always going to be an uphill struggle. We duly lost, again in straight games to give New Malden the match and put them 5-3 up. In the final rubber, Steve fought valiantly alongside an inexperienced Gerry but also conceded the final rubber.

Overall it was a bizarre match. Before we started play, I would have considered me and Steve our top two men but we managed to win just 1 rubber out of 6 between us. Sowji showed good potential for the future, winning 2 of her 3, and Scott proved his reliability, but we should have done much better. Still, their team was stronger than this time last year so a loss was probably expected.