1st Team

2nd ICC Premier A Weekend 14/15th January 2012

The Premier A division brings together the top 10 county teams on three separate weekends in the season. Matches comprise 10 events (each event counting as one point) and the winning county at the end of the season is the one with the highest  points total. The bottom two counties are relegated to Premier B for the next season. Having spent last season in Premier B, Cheshire’s initial aim was to stay up in the top division. At this season’s first Premier A weekend, held in November in Guildford, a 9-1 win against Glasgow and North Strathclyde and narrow 6-4 losses against Warwickshire and Hertfordshire put Cheshire in an impressive 4th place with a useful total of 17 points.

We travelled to the famous Railway Institute in York for the second Premier A weekend, however, knowing that we would be facing the top two counties, Yorkshire and Surrey as well as middle-of-the-table Middlesex, so every further point would be hard won. To make things even more difficult, we were without our top man, Matt Nottingham, who was playing abroad, and two of our strongest ladies, Ella Tripp and Hayley Rogers.

Our first match was against Middlesex. Last November they had former England National Champion Aamir Ghaffar as first man, but this time the impressive beard was nowhere in sight. Dan Font, our first man, wasn’t able to relax, however, as the replacement turned out to be Dinuka Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s No2 and over here studying in London. Despite Dan’s best efforts, he wasn’t able to overcome Dinuka’s greater experience and strength and lost in two 14-21, 14-21.

Our second man, Tim Cope, also had a tough match against an on-form Nathan D’Cruz, narrowly missing out at 19-21 in the first game then losing the second 15-21.

Helen Davies put in a strong performance at first singles against Elena Johnson, winning 21-7, 21-11 in a match that was never in doubt. Claire Weaver at second then also had a comfortable win against Bethany Wong, 21-9, 21-10 to square the match 2 all.

Next Dan Font and Greg Mairs took on Dinuka Karanuratne and Victor Liew at first mens. In a dynamic and skillfull match, the Cheshire pair won a very close first game 21-18. After losing the second 11-21 they fought back hard in the third, but eventually lost 17-21. Second pair Dave Edgar and Mike Simmons then took on Steven Jacobs and Lee Ackerman. From the start it was clear this was going to be a close match, with long rallies and the advantage moving back and to. Dave and Mike won the first game 21-19 but the Middlesex pair fought back to take the second 22-20. The third was neck and neck, with Mike diving full length on several occasions to retrieve shots then bouncing back successfully to continue the rally. The Cheshire pair’s efforts were finally rewarded with a 21-19 win, squaring the match again at 3 all.

Our first ladies, Helen Davies and Claire Weaver had a disappointing start against Elena Johnson and Vicky Ingram, losing the first game 11-21 then going down 17-21 in the second before they could really hit their form.

Second ladies Gill Dabek and Rachel Vickers took on Sandra Peaston and Anneka Thomas. This was a closer match in which they were always in contention and unlucky to lose out 18-21, 18-21. In the first mixed, Dave Edgar and Gill Dabek got off to a hesitant start against Nathan D’Cruz and Vicky Ingram, losing the first game 9-21. In the second, however,  they steadily improved and were unlucky to finally lose 19-21. In the final match against Middlesex, Greg Mairs and Rachel Vickers took on the older and more experienced Victor Liew and Sandra Peaston. Greg and Rachel pushed the Middlesex pair hard all the way, losing the first game 17-21 and just losing the second on setting , 20-22. Our overall 3-7 loss to Middlesex gave us a total of 20 points, a bit less than we had hoped for before facing the two strongest counties, Yorkshire and Surrey.

Yorkshire had several top players absent due to overseas tournaments but were still able to field the strongest team in the room against us. First off, Dan Font took on Jamie Bonsells in what we all expected to be a close match. Dan streaked ahead in the first game and although Jamie reduced his error rate in the second half of the game, he was unable to stop Dan charging to a 21-14 victory. The second game swung completely the other way, Jamie playing much better and rapidly ploughing to a 21-5 win. In the third game, both players were concentrating hard and the rallies grew longer. Jamie, however, forged ahead to win 21-13.

At second singles, Tim Cope had the tough job of taking on Alex Marritt. Tim fought for every point but the Yorkshire player’s power and speed around the court gave him a decisive 21-13, 21-14 victory. Helen Davies then took on Anita Kaur in a close match which contrasted their two styles. Helen’s greater power and reach was pitted against Anita’s agility and deception. With never more than a few points between them, Anita just won out in two games 21-17, 21-19. At second singles, Rachel had the unenviable task of taking on Sarah Milne (currently ranked 5th in the country). Rachel made Sarah play for every point, eventually losing 8-21, 6-21.

At first mens, Dan and Greg put up solid resistance against Steve Foster and Jason Marshall, but finally went down 14-21, 19-21 to the more experienced pair. At second mens, Dave Edgar and Andy Cooper had two close games against Ed Foster and Jamie Bonsels, narrowly losing 18-21, 19-21. Helen  and Gill took on the top Yorkshire pair, Anita Kaur and Sarah Milne, losing 12-21 in the first and closely in the second, 18-21. Rachel and Claire then faced Sophie Brown and Chloe Birch, pushing them to a close 19-21 in the first game but going down heavily, 6-21, in the second. Having reserved some of our strength for the mixed, we were hopeful of picking up a point or two in the last two events. Spirits lifted when Dave and Gill won their first game against Ed Foster and Sophie Brown, 22-20. The Yorkshire pair regrouped, however, to take the second game 21-14. The decider was hard fought but Yorkshire edged ahead at the end to clinch a 21-18 victory. At 9-0 down in the match, we were now relying on our two youngest players, Greg and Claire to avoid a whitewash! They were up against the experienced Steve Foster and highly rated England junior, Chloe Birch. From the outset the match was nip and tuck, with Steve’s more powerful smash pitted against Greg’s early interceptions and inventive defensive shots while at the net Chloe and Claire vied for supremacy. There was a big cheer from the Cheshire camp when Greg and Claire took the first game 21-18. The second game ran along similar lines but this time the Yorkshire pair just nosed ahead to even the match at 21-18. By the turn in the third though, Greg and Claire had built up a 5 point lead and despite the efforts of the Yorkshire pair they maintained this to win 21-16.

Our final match on Sunday was against Surrey, who are second only to Yorkshire in the table. The good news for us was that they were without their two top men, Ben Beckman and Toby Penty but the bad news was that our top lady, Helen Davies was now carrying an injury. We had been hoping to gain at least 3 points from this match but in the cold light of Sunday morning that was starting to look a bit optimistic!

Dan Font was first on against Jack Molyneux. Dan got off to a very slow start in the first game, finally losing it 11-21. In the second Dan found his stride and their was nothing between the players. Dan reached game point at 20-18 but Jack dug in and pulled back to 20 all then pushed through to win the match 23-21.

Tim had a tough match against Sam Phillips, always trailing slightly in the first to finish 15-21 down. In the second, however, Tim was always in contention, setting at 20 all and unlucky to finally lose out 20-22.

Helen Davies took to the court against Georgina Bland for the first singles but it was soon apparent that her injury was limiting her movement and she conceded at 1-3 in the first game. At second singles, Claire took on Kelly Mead in what promised to be a close match. Claire struggled with the slow shuttles in the first game, losing 15-21. She fought back hard in the second to level the match 21-19. In the third she was 11-9 up at the turn and then never looked back, closing out with a 21-11 win.

Next, Dan and Greg had the difficult prospect of playing Matthew Honey and Sam Phillips at first doubles. They played superbly well in the first game, just edging to a 21-18 victory. The second was even closer, with the Surrey pair evening things up with a 21-19 win. The final game was another close and competitive affair which Dan and Greg were unlucky to eventually lose 18-21. At second mens, Dave and Mike easily overcame Jack Molyneux and Steve Higgins, their superb 21-19 21-7 scoreline giving Cheshire a second valuable point with 4 more events to play.

Claire and Gill next took on Hayley Connor and England International, Sam Ward. Although they put up a good fight, they were unable to match the strength and experience of the Surrey pair, losing in two, 16-21, 15-21.

At second ladies, Rachel and Kay Vickers faced Jen Bilton and Kelly Mead, Kay having been drafted in at very short notice when it became evident that Helen Davies would not be able to play two events. There was a big cheer when the Cheshire pair won the first game convincingly 21-15. The Surrey side then fought back to take the second 21-17.  Rachel and Kay forged on in the third to acquire a 19-14 lead, but again the Surrey pair dug in hard to reach match point at 20-19. A net cord levelled the match at 20 all and the Cheshire pair then just squeaked home at 22-20 to sighs of relief from the Cheshire supporters and silence from Rachel, who had been rendered speechless with exhaustion.

With 3 points in the bag, we went into the mixed knowing that anything further would be a bonus. Dave and Gill had the tough prospect of playing Matthew Honey and Sam Ward, and did well to reach 13-21, 11-21 against such a strong pair. Finally Greg and Kay took on Steve Higgins and Hayley Connor, going down 16-21, 16-21 - a very gutsy performance at the end of a tiring weekend.

So our 3 points against Surrey gave us a total of 7 for the weekend and 24 overall, leaving us in equal 7th place in the table with Middlesex and above Glasgow and North Strathclyde and Avon. The final Premier A weekend will be at Milton-Keynes on 31st March where we take on Avon and Notts in our bid to stay up for next year.

Points totals after two ICC Premier A weekends

Yorkshire       48

Surrey           48

Warks           32

Herts             30

Notts             27

Essex           26

Cheshire       24

Middx           24

Glas &NS     22

Avon             19

 

 

ICC Premier A Weekend, Guildford 12-13 Nov 2011 

 
 
The Premier A division brings together the top 10 county teams on three separate weekends in the season.. Each county plays three others on each of the  weekends so that every county has played every other by the end of the season. Matches comprise 10 events and the winning county at the end of the season is the one winning the largest number of events overall. The bottom two counties are relegated to Premier B for the next season. 
 
Newly promoted from Premier B this season, Cheshire’s initial aim is to stay up in the top division. The bad news for this first weeekend was that we were without our two strongest players, Matthew Nottingham and Helen Davies, so we travelled  down south on Friday night with some trepidation…… 
From our hotel in Slough we had a 40 minute drive to the venue in Guildford and set off in good time – only to find that the post code provided took us down a narrow cul de sac on a trading estate about a mile away from where we needed to be! Tempers were slightly frayed but fortunately a friendly local pointed us in the right direction and we arrived at the splendid Surrey Sports Park only slightly late. 
Our first match was against Hertfordshire. On the men’s side they looked beatable, especially as they were missing Ryan McCarthy, a strong U19. However, the ladies side was a different matter, with Helena Lewczynska and Emily Westwood in the singles and Suzanne Rayappan and Gail Emms in the doubles and mixed! Our spirits were lifted however when Dan Font and Tim Cope won their first and second singles in solid fashion. Hayley Rogers then took on Helena at first singles and narrowly lost in two. Claire Weaver had a close fight against Emily Westwood (who had just returned from the U19 World championships in Taipei). Claire took the first game 21-16 and had three separate match points in the second game. However, Emily gritted her teeth and just managed to hang on, finally winning the game 24-22. The third game was neck and neck, with Emily finally edging ahead at the end to win 21-18. Both mens doubles went our way without drama, Dan Font and George Li winning 21-14, 21-17 and Dave Edgar and Keith Cuncarr comfortably through at 21-16, 21-17. With a 4-2 lead in the match we were feeling good. In their first doubles, Gill Dabek and Rachel Vickers had the job of taking on Gail Emms and Helena 
Lewczynska. They put up a respectable fight in a very good humoured and enjoyable match, the final score of 11-21, 13-21 being less important than the experience of playing against a former world champion! Hayley Rogers and Emma Luke had almost as difficult a task in taking on Suzanne Rayappan and Liza Smith at second. The first game was close but in the second the stronger Herts pair forged ahead, winning 21-18, 21-10. 
In the first mixed Dave and Gill took on Peter Gooden and Gail Emms. Victory was too much to expect, but the 15-21, 19-21 scoreline reflected two close and entertaining games. So with the score at Herts 5, Cheshire 4 our second mixed pair Greg Mairs and Claire Weaver stepped on court for the final match against Suzanne Rayappan and Andy Walden. The youngsters were obviously unfazed by the opposition, winning the first game convincingly 21-16.  The Herts pair fought back to win the second 21-18 so the final game became a focus of attention for watching team mates on both sides. 
Greg showed his usual flair, successfully taking  the pace off the more powerful shots from his opponent while Claire traded tumble and cross-net shots at the net with Suzanne. The more experienced pair drew steadily ahead towards the end of the game, to finish 21-16 up.    
 
Our second match on Saturday was against Glasgow and North Strathclyde. Their published 1st team nominations included Kieran Merrilees, Imogen Bankier and Linda Sloan, all current international players, so we were expecting a tough match. There was a sigh of relief when the team sheet revealed that none of these were playing! They were also missing a couple of U19 internationals, so we were hopeful of picking up some useful points. 
In the first singles, Dan saw off Andrew Gilliland in two, 21-19, 21-11. Tim Cope then played a patient and skillful match against talented U19, Lewis Gallacher, losing the first 16-21 then pulling even in a nail-biting 27-25 second game. The third went easily to Cheshire 21-11 when the younger player’s error rate increased under pressure. In the women’s singles, Hayley won the first game easily against Viktoria Tvetanova, 21-10. Viktoria came back to take the second 21-13 but Hayley piled on the pressure in the third to win 21-15. At second singles Claire beat Frances Heslop by a comfortable 21-10 21-17 to put Cheshire 4-0 in the lead. 
Dan and George had a tough match against Colin Hill and Stewart Kerr, losing the first narrowly 20-22 then winning the second 21-17. However, the final game went firmly to the Scots 21-10. Dave and Keith won the second doubles easily in two games but Rachel and Gill had a long three set match against Viktoria and Frances, finally nosing ahead in the third 25-23. Hayley and Emma then powered through their second doubles to a 21-12 21-19 victory putting Cheshire in a strong 7-1 lead. The first mixed went to three, Dave and Gill winning the first 21-18 then losing the second 16-21. However, they regrouped in the third to win 21-13. Finally, our two youngsters Claire and Greg put in a solid 21-17, 21-17 win to give Cheshire an impressive 9-1 victory.  
 
On Sunday we had our final match against Warwickshire. On the men’s side they were very strong with Chris Tonks, Ben Stawski, Rhys Walker and Mark Sellwood in their line-up. Fortunately, their ladies were less strong, with top player Fontaine Chapman unable to stay for the second day. We calculated that we should manage to win 3 matches and anything more would be a bonus. 
Dan Font was first up against Rhys Walker. This was a much anticipated match as the two are both playing well and their previous encounters have been very hard fought. As he took to the court, Dan looked slightly pale and we wondered whether the previous rather late and sociable night in Guildford would affect his play. However, we needn’t have worried. After a cautious start it soon became clear that both players were on good form. In a first game which displayed impressive skill and power on both sides, Rhys finally edged  ahead to close out at 21-16. In the second game Dan made a determined effort to turn the tables and produced a fantastic 21-14 win. There was close attention from the spectators as the final game got underway. Both players were now playing excellent 
badminton, with long rallies full of net cords, miracle recoveries and powerful smashes. The game progressed almost point for point to reach 20 all and setting. Both players now gritted their teeth for the final push. Fortunately for us, Dan just had the edge in the final two rallies to win a very high quality and exciting match. 
Meanwhile in the second mens match, Tim Cope was taking on Mark Sellwood. Tim was well prepared and hit the ground running, taking the first game in very competent style 21-13. With the pressure now on him, Mark fought back in the second, oncentrating hard to reduce his error rate and coming out the 21-15 winner. The third game was close up to half way but then Tim edged slowly ahead putting Mark under increasing pressure to achieve an outstanding 21-17 victory.  
The first and second ladies singles went as expected, with Hayley and Claire both seeing off their (even younger) opponents in two. 
In the first mens, Dan and George went down to  the strong and experienced Chris Tonks and GB squad member Ben Stawski 18-21, 16-21. At second mens Dave and Keith were unlucky not to go to three against Rhys Walker and Chris Roe, losing 15-21 then 23-25 in the second. 
Rachel and Gill at first ladies came up against very solid opposition from Catherine Grant and Claire Millward, losing 10-21, 14-21 to the more experienced pair.    
At  second  ladies  Hayley  and  Emma  won  an  easy first game against Becci Crawshaw and Til’Shiloh Shaw–Cole 21-6. In the second, the young Warwickshire pair regained their confidence to produce a 21-16 victory. Unfortunately for us, this inspired them to even greater efforts in the third, pushing 
through in determined fashion to win 21-16. After  four losses in a row, the Cheshire team had to regroup for the final two mixed events. From 4 all, we could still achieve a 6-4 win! 
At first mixed Dave and Gill faced a tough match against Ben Stawski and Catherine Grant. When the first game went to Warwickshire 21-10 we thought that it would soon be over, but the Cheshire pair played brilliantly to win the second 21-19. In the third, the Warwickshire pair’s strength and experience pulled them through to a comfortable 21-12 victory. 
Finally,  Claire  and  Greg  went  on  to  face  Chris  Tonks  and  Claire  Millward  in  the  second  mixed,  Greg having patiently waited over three hours to get on the court. This may have been a factor in their losing the first game heavily, 7-21. In the second game, however, they surged to an early 6-0 lead and then held on to that advantage to claim a surprise 21-13 win, Greg foxing his stronger opponent with deceptive cross-court blocks and Claire winning points with tight net shots. The audience awaited the final game with interest and weren’t disappointed. Both pairs were now playing well, producing 
entertaining badminton throughout a close game.  The Warwickshire pair just edged ahead at the finish to gain a 22-20 victory and a 6-4 win overall for their side. 
Over the weekend, Cheshire won a fantastic total of 17 events, putting us in 4th place out of the 10 top counties and providing a good springboard for the next weekend at the York RI on 14/15 January 2012. Maybe we’ll see you there!