Cheshire County Badminton – a new era.
The end of the 2010/11 Badminton season, saw a significant change in personnel within CCBA.
Roger Cash retired as president and Roger Ewing moved from his position as Chairman to take on the role of President. Roger was replaced as Chairman by Karl Bergh. This follows several years as Chairman of the Schools & Youth, where he was instrumental in the implementation of a successful plan for squad coaching which has contributed in part to the outstanding ICT results achieved over the last few years.
George Williams also stepped down from his role as Tournament Co-ordinator to be replaced by Alan Nottingham.
All recent squad players, current and lapsed, have been invited to attend training sessions and ex-National players Colin Haughton and Ian Palethorpe have agreed to coach at selected sessions.
The last weekend in September saw the first of these sessions, run by Ian, and this was hugely successful and enjoyed by all those who attended. “The best training session that I have attended in many a year” was the way it was described by one of the players. It undoubtedly helped to sharpen up those who attended ready for the Senior County Restricted Tournament played on 1st/2nd October.
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The number of entries for the Tournament was high with players representing every league in the County and with ages ranging from 15 to 50+. It was a fantastic event, with all events played to the semi final stage on Saturday and semis and finals played on Sunday.
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Ladies Singles Finalists Rachel Vickers (Left) and Claire Weaver (Right) With CCBA President Roger Ewing
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Players and organisers battled with extraordinary weather conditions, with Saturday being the hottest October day on record and play actually had to be suspended for a little while in the middle of the afternoon while attempts were made to cool the hall down and allow the condensation to dry from the courts. Despite this, there was a real buzz about the event and some excellent badminton was played over the course of the weekend.
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The final event of the Tournament was the Men’s Doubles final and this was undoubtedly the most exciting, with the first game being finally resolved at a nail biting 29-27 and the second almost as tight at 22-20.
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Men’s Doubles Finalists (from the left), Keith Cuncarr, Dave Edgar, George Li and Andy Cooper
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The Tournament was played with a Round Robin format so that all entrants had a minimum of 2 games in each event. There were many players who had entered the Tournament for the first time this year and it is hoped that entries will grow again next year, with as many players as possible, both young and old, taking an opportunity to match their skills against those already in the county squads.
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Ladies Doubles Finalists (from the left) Bethan Cubbin, Claire Symeonides, Gill Dabek and Rachel Vickers
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Mixed Doubles Finalists (from the left) Greg Mairs, Claire Weaver, Kay Vickers and Chris Wright
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Results for the Tournament were:
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Winner(s)
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Runner(s) Up
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Ladies Singles
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Claire Weaver
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Rachel Vickers
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Men’s Singles
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Mike Simmons
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Dave Edgar
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Ladies Doubles
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Gill Dabek
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Bethan Cubbin
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Rachel Vickers
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Claire Symeonides
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Men’s Doubles
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Dave Edgar
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Andy Cooper
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Keith Cuncarr
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George Li
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Mixed Doubles
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Claire Weaver
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Kay Vickers
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Greg Mairs
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Chris Wright
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Thanks must go to Alan Nottingham our Tournament Referee and Jan Bergh our Tournament Secretary for all their efforts organising and running the tournaments.
