Unbelievable result for Cheshire ICT Squad!!
8th – 11th April 2010 were, without doubt, the 4 most unbelievable days in the short history of Cheshire Schools & Youth Badminton.
As parents dropped off their children to meet the minibus for the journey to Nottingham for this year’s ICT campaign, the immediate concerns were whether everyone’s bags would fit in the bus and whether they could find a route which would avoid the M6 and the traffic jams caused by an accident earlier that morning! No one could possibly have predicted what was to come………
Cheshire had been seeded 6th, which was disappointing considering results in recent years. Thursday saw great performances from everyone, both the seasoned ICT campaigners, some in their 4th year, as well as those making their 1st appearance. 10 – 0 wins against Northamptonshire, Northumberland and Avon secured the expected 1st place in Group F and the dreaded 2nd day, with matches against Leinster, Devon, Ulster (7th seeds) and Hampshire (3rd seeds). In anyone’s book a “group of death”.
Undaunted, everyone rose to the occasion, recording an 8-2 victory over Leinster, 9-1 against Devon and 7-3 against Ulster. Now for the big one! The match against Hampshire was “nip and tuck” all the way, with honours split in the mixed doubles, then 2nd girls and boys singles, again in the 1st boys and girls singles and the 1st boys and girls doubles. At 4 all, the 2nd girls and boys doubles went on. We were marginally ahead, having lost 2nd girls singles and 1stmixed in 3, with Hampshire only managing to go to 3 in the 1st girls singles. 2nd girls doubles fell to Hampshire, but with the first game of second boys doubles going Cheshire’s way, a win here would secure 5 sets all, with Cheshire winning having won more games. As the players and supporters crowded round the court to watch, the excitement grew and our boys held their nerve to win in 2 games – we had beaten the 3rd seeds and guaranteed a minimum of 4th place. To say “the crowd went wild” would be the understatement of the century.
Day 3 dawned with no-one quite believing what had already been achieved. The first match against Bucks, seeded 2, looked impossible on paper, with all of their players being Grade 1s. Once again though, nothing could quash the Cheshire belief and remarkable performances all round produced another winning draw and a possible 3rd place. Saturday afternoon brought the top seeds Yorkshire. Having beaten them twice this year in other events, the whole team were out to win, but unfortunately, they were held to 4-6. A win against Hertfordshire on Sunday was still on the cards though, which would secure second place.
Following late night pizza on Saturday, a bout of food poisoning for 3 of the girls didn’t bode well on Sunday morning. They were all determined to play regardless though and a trip to the chemist saw them dosed with Gaviscon and ready to go.
The final match and the build up took its toll on some of the players, who suddenly found it impossible to stop shaking for long enough to get drinks bottles to their mouths. Wet shirts for some and help from the Team Managers for others and we were off again. Wins in 1 and 2 boys singles, 1 and 2 boys doubles and both mixed doubles resulted in a 6-4 win and an unbelievable 2nd place for Cheshire. This was the stuff that dreams are made of and Team Managers, players and supporters alike were lost for words at such a fantastic result achieved by amazing performances from each of the players and a team spirit and determination that was second to none.
Singing on the bus and a celebratory Macdonald’s finished what had been a truly breathtaking event. Congratulations to all of the players and to the dedicated Team Managers on such an incredible result.
CLICK HERE to read the full ICT Report
