Wimbledon 6
St Andrews 0
Mens Fours Division 2
I needed an extra day just to cool down in order to write this report. Things looked ominous from the outset - with the match due to start at 7:30, it was only at 7:05 I found out by phoning Anushka that his car had broken down and would I mind detouring to Carshalton to pick him up. We arrived late and played probably one of the worst matches of Fours' season.
Notwithstanding his unreliability, me & Anushka went on as 1&2, losing the first 10-21 but winning the second 21-10. Halfway through the deciding game, he had a tantrum when I disagreed with his strategy and deliberately overhit the next 4 points out. We lost the 3rd 14-21. He'll never play in my team again. Wimbledon's players probably enjoyed picking on the two weaker players, Paul and Ron. In Paul's case they were playing fast flat shots to his backhand that he had trouble returning; in Ron's case they were merely dropping him and he didn't run in to cover his positioning.
The other rubbers were all conceded in straight games. We are now 2nd bottom of the table but only by virtue of having played more games, so it's even possible that Ebbisham D could overtake us in the meantime.
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Sunday, 27 January 2013
badminton match 13
St Andrews 6
New Malden 3
Hybrid Division 1
A better result on home turf, though there were a couple of contributing factors. We had an above average strength team with first team player Neil ushered in to replace "busy working" Scott and Anushka replacing Gerry...captain Sarah must be getting jittery about the very real threat of relegation! New Malden likewise fielded an average to strong team. When we played at theirs in the first Hybrid match of the season, they had a strong player called Dennis who wasn't here this time round; in his place was Tariq from their second mens 6, but they made up for it by having one stronger lady than previously.
Neil & Sowji were on first but lost in a best of 3 to Robin & Jo. Debatable if that was surprising as that New Malden pair are in their first mixed team. Steve & Sarah won, and then me & Anushka entered the fray, winning in straight games to make it 2-1 to us after the first 3.
After palpable excitement of a very close first game which was just lost 27-29, the ladies rubber was conceded in straight games. The clash of the titans (Man 1 & Man 2 from each side) was next; Neil & Steve did us proud and won comfortably. Next up was me & Sowji vs Tariq & Lyn. We easily won the first game and were well ahead in the second, but took our foot off the gas and lost it. I switched my brain on for the deciding game and we prevailed 21-12 17-21 21-10. We were 4-2 up after 6 rubbers.
Anushka didn't fare well with Sarah; she missed some shots to bring New Malden back into the match. We needed to win one of the last two to take the game. I was on next with Neil and we made short work of Chris & Tariq, winning in straight games 21-11 21-11 to secure our points. To round off the match, Anushka won well with Steve, resulting in a nice 6-3 home win. Me & Steve won all 3, Neil & Anushka won 2 and the ladies won 1 apiece. This victory went some way to shrugging off the embarrassment of last night.
Bizarrely, having lost 3-6 away at New Malden in the season opener, we are now 9-9 with them on aggregate for this season, and also 9-9 on aggregate with Sutton Adults having won 5-4 at home but losing 4-5 away. It looks to be very tight at the middle to lower end of division 1 this season. En garde!
New Malden 3
Hybrid Division 1
A better result on home turf, though there were a couple of contributing factors. We had an above average strength team with first team player Neil ushered in to replace "busy working" Scott and Anushka replacing Gerry...captain Sarah must be getting jittery about the very real threat of relegation! New Malden likewise fielded an average to strong team. When we played at theirs in the first Hybrid match of the season, they had a strong player called Dennis who wasn't here this time round; in his place was Tariq from their second mens 6, but they made up for it by having one stronger lady than previously.
Neil & Sowji were on first but lost in a best of 3 to Robin & Jo. Debatable if that was surprising as that New Malden pair are in their first mixed team. Steve & Sarah won, and then me & Anushka entered the fray, winning in straight games to make it 2-1 to us after the first 3.
After palpable excitement of a very close first game which was just lost 27-29, the ladies rubber was conceded in straight games. The clash of the titans (Man 1 & Man 2 from each side) was next; Neil & Steve did us proud and won comfortably. Next up was me & Sowji vs Tariq & Lyn. We easily won the first game and were well ahead in the second, but took our foot off the gas and lost it. I switched my brain on for the deciding game and we prevailed 21-12 17-21 21-10. We were 4-2 up after 6 rubbers.
Anushka didn't fare well with Sarah; she missed some shots to bring New Malden back into the match. We needed to win one of the last two to take the game. I was on next with Neil and we made short work of Chris & Tariq, winning in straight games 21-11 21-11 to secure our points. To round off the match, Anushka won well with Steve, resulting in a nice 6-3 home win. Me & Steve won all 3, Neil & Anushka won 2 and the ladies won 1 apiece. This victory went some way to shrugging off the embarrassment of last night.
Bizarrely, having lost 3-6 away at New Malden in the season opener, we are now 9-9 with them on aggregate for this season, and also 9-9 on aggregate with Sutton Adults having won 5-4 at home but losing 4-5 away. It looks to be very tight at the middle to lower end of division 1 this season. En garde!
Saturday, 26 January 2013
badminton match 12
South Beddington 8
St Andrews 1
Mens Division 3
Total humiliation last night away (well, just down the road for me) at the hands of South Beddington. Our main excuse was that the shuttles seemed very fast. Even just tapping them, we were making an awful lot of unforced errors and hitting them out of play. The floor seemed a little slippery too, but at this level we should have dealt better with it and tried at least to take the game to them. We didn't, with the net result of getting a thumping. Steve & Scott won our sole rubber, the less said about the other games the better. Onwards and upwards...next match is tonight, no rest for the wicked!
St Andrews 1
Mens Division 3
Total humiliation last night away (well, just down the road for me) at the hands of South Beddington. Our main excuse was that the shuttles seemed very fast. Even just tapping them, we were making an awful lot of unforced errors and hitting them out of play. The floor seemed a little slippery too, but at this level we should have dealt better with it and tried at least to take the game to them. We didn't, with the net result of getting a thumping. Steve & Scott won our sole rubber, the less said about the other games the better. Onwards and upwards...next match is tonight, no rest for the wicked!
Friday, 18 January 2013
badminton match 11
St Andrews 3
Epsom Downs 3
Mens Fours Division 2
With Ron ruling himself out due to "no strength in his legs" (old age?), Anushka was summoned as his substitute. He went on first with Paul and won in straight games, followed by me & Chris who inexplicably lost in a best of 3 after killing the opposition in the first game. Anushka and I fought back and won the 3rd in straight games, but Paul and Chris endured a torrid time and lost a poor rubber in straight games. Anushka couldn't do any better with Chris, losing again, before I went on for the final rubber with Paul and salvaged a 3-3 draw and an important point in a tense best of 3, 21-16 19-21 21-18. So me, Paul and Anushka won 2 whilst Chris won nothing. We should have really won this game, not pointing fingers or anything Chris!
Epsom Downs 3
Mens Fours Division 2
With Ron ruling himself out due to "no strength in his legs" (old age?), Anushka was summoned as his substitute. He went on first with Paul and won in straight games, followed by me & Chris who inexplicably lost in a best of 3 after killing the opposition in the first game. Anushka and I fought back and won the 3rd in straight games, but Paul and Chris endured a torrid time and lost a poor rubber in straight games. Anushka couldn't do any better with Chris, losing again, before I went on for the final rubber with Paul and salvaged a 3-3 draw and an important point in a tense best of 3, 21-16 19-21 21-18. So me, Paul and Anushka won 2 whilst Chris won nothing. We should have really won this game, not pointing fingers or anything Chris!
Friday, 11 January 2013
badminton match 10
St Andrews 5
Coulsdon & Purley S3 4
Mens Division 3
A magnificent performance by all involved. This home match against the unbeaten league leaders looked extremely difficult on paper, only compounded by the knowledge they had been demoted from Division 2 and that we had lost to them 2-7 away in the opening match of the season.
Steve & Matt were on first, followed by Kaz & Scott. Both prevailed. Then it was my turn with Anushka to play their 3rd and best pair Martin & Ian (the latter ironically still coach of our junior section!). We were unlucky to lose the first game 18-21 but fought back ferociously in the second to win 21-12 before marginally losing the last. After the first 3 rubbers, we were 2-1 up.
Steve & Matt continued to play superbly and won their 2nd rubber, but when Anushka and I returned on court we had a bizarre straight games loss against probably their easiest pair Colin & Ian. Kaz and Scott couldn't convert good movement and positioning into a win either; after 6 rubbers C&P had levelled us at 3-3.
I wasn't about to go home empty-handed though and promised myself I'd get something out of this game. The 7th rubber saw me and Anushka take on their youngest pair Paul & James. It turned out to be a very tense nail-biter. We won the first game but conceded the second. Towards the end of the final game their players had a relatively poor patch which we pounced on and just secured the win 22-20. Steve & Matt returned for the 8th rubber and won us the match, but Kaz & Scott on last couldn't convert.
This was a great win against a strong and determined side that will boost our confidence for all remaining matches of the season; to date, no other side in our division has beaten C&P at home, with the exception of Woodcote who haven't played them home or away yet.
Coulsdon & Purley S3 4
Mens Division 3
A magnificent performance by all involved. This home match against the unbeaten league leaders looked extremely difficult on paper, only compounded by the knowledge they had been demoted from Division 2 and that we had lost to them 2-7 away in the opening match of the season.
Steve & Matt were on first, followed by Kaz & Scott. Both prevailed. Then it was my turn with Anushka to play their 3rd and best pair Martin & Ian (the latter ironically still coach of our junior section!). We were unlucky to lose the first game 18-21 but fought back ferociously in the second to win 21-12 before marginally losing the last. After the first 3 rubbers, we were 2-1 up.
Steve & Matt continued to play superbly and won their 2nd rubber, but when Anushka and I returned on court we had a bizarre straight games loss against probably their easiest pair Colin & Ian. Kaz and Scott couldn't convert good movement and positioning into a win either; after 6 rubbers C&P had levelled us at 3-3.
I wasn't about to go home empty-handed though and promised myself I'd get something out of this game. The 7th rubber saw me and Anushka take on their youngest pair Paul & James. It turned out to be a very tense nail-biter. We won the first game but conceded the second. Towards the end of the final game their players had a relatively poor patch which we pounced on and just secured the win 22-20. Steve & Matt returned for the 8th rubber and won us the match, but Kaz & Scott on last couldn't convert.
This was a great win against a strong and determined side that will boost our confidence for all remaining matches of the season; to date, no other side in our division has beaten C&P at home, with the exception of Woodcote who haven't played them home or away yet.
Thursday, 10 January 2013
badminton match 9
Sutton Adults 5
St Andrews 4
Hybrid Division 1
The match started sluggishly for us, conceding the first 2 rubbers - then I went on with Gerry and won in straight games 11-21 15-21 to pull one back for us. Unfortunately the ladies lost, as did Steve and Scott. We were therefore 1-4 down after 5 rubbers, but fought back well to win the next 2 to make it 3-4 after 7. In the 8th rubber (me and Scott on), the game exploded into life as their youngest player Doug got upset on court with Scott's serve, arguing that he hadn't struck the shuttle properly. Doug refused to shake hands with Scott after that marathon game (which we lost 28-26 20-22 21-16) and their captain accused two of our players of having illegal serves, prompting our captain Sarah to argue with theirs ("qualified coach John") on the sidelines for a good 20 minutes which culminated in her threatening to report him to the League. It is bizarre how John had the entire match to raise the subject of illegal serves but only chose to do so at match point in the 8th rubber, which is the worst kind of gamesmanship and should see sanctions. Worse was that he accused one of our best players Steve of an illegal serve but didn't confront him directly about it and only complained to our captain. With the greatest of respect to Sutton Adults, Steve has previously played teams far better than them and nobody has ever complained about his serve. A truly hostile team and one that we will probably not play again.
St Andrews 4
Hybrid Division 1
The match started sluggishly for us, conceding the first 2 rubbers - then I went on with Gerry and won in straight games 11-21 15-21 to pull one back for us. Unfortunately the ladies lost, as did Steve and Scott. We were therefore 1-4 down after 5 rubbers, but fought back well to win the next 2 to make it 3-4 after 7. In the 8th rubber (me and Scott on), the game exploded into life as their youngest player Doug got upset on court with Scott's serve, arguing that he hadn't struck the shuttle properly. Doug refused to shake hands with Scott after that marathon game (which we lost 28-26 20-22 21-16) and their captain accused two of our players of having illegal serves, prompting our captain Sarah to argue with theirs ("qualified coach John") on the sidelines for a good 20 minutes which culminated in her threatening to report him to the League. It is bizarre how John had the entire match to raise the subject of illegal serves but only chose to do so at match point in the 8th rubber, which is the worst kind of gamesmanship and should see sanctions. Worse was that he accused one of our best players Steve of an illegal serve but didn't confront him directly about it and only complained to our captain. With the greatest of respect to Sutton Adults, Steve has previously played teams far better than them and nobody has ever complained about his serve. A truly hostile team and one that we will probably not play again.
Friday, 4 January 2013
badminton match 8
Chaldon 9
St Andrews 0
Hybrid Division 1
A predictable result, given Chaldon are the strongest team in the division by a country mile. We used Anushka as a sub, as Gerry was ill. The closest we came was probably the game I had with Anushka, in which we lost to 17 and 19. I guess that isn't bad but it was still not good enough, at least not to make consistent inroads into the competition. It was pretty disheartening to hear our captain cajole us into "enjoying it because we weren't going to win", what kind of goddamn attitude is that?
St Andrews 0
Hybrid Division 1
A predictable result, given Chaldon are the strongest team in the division by a country mile. We used Anushka as a sub, as Gerry was ill. The closest we came was probably the game I had with Anushka, in which we lost to 17 and 19. I guess that isn't bad but it was still not good enough, at least not to make consistent inroads into the competition. It was pretty disheartening to hear our captain cajole us into "enjoying it because we weren't going to win", what kind of goddamn attitude is that?
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