Cheshire O40s Win National Title
In an exciting finale to the Inter County Badminton League, the CheshireO40s became National County Champions, the first time a Cheshire team has secured this honour. The semi-finals and finals, played on consecutive days (24/25th April) at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-on-Trent, were strongly contested. Cheshire successfully defeated Gloucestershire (7-5) in the semi-final and proceeded to beat Yorkshire in the final (8-4). Both matches were close; in the semi final and final Cheshire managed to secure a crucial 5-3 advantage after the men’s and ladies doubles, and built on this small lead in the mixed doubles matches. There were notable performances from all team members. In particular Chris Wright and Helen Ambrose both won 5 of their 6 events over the finals weekend, supported by their respective doubles partners.
The route to the final began back in October 2009 when Cheshire started their campaign in a six-county West-Midland round robin league. After finishing top of this regional league, Cheshire qualified for a play-off against East Midland’s champions Nottinghamshire, who were beaten (9-3). Cheshire then progressed to the finals weekend as representatives of the Midland region, alongside county teams representing the North, South East and South West regions.
In a separate event earlier in the season (March 20/21st) the Cheshire O40 team achieved promotion to the top tier of the Veterans Inter County Championship, without dropping a set in matches against the 5 other counties from England and Scotland. This proved to be a springboard for the team to go on and successfully win the veterans O40 inter-county league.
The vets O40 team for the play-off and finals comprised Helen Ambrose, Lyn Raynor, Ruth Flatman, Fiona Waddell, Mark Golds, Chris Wright, Adrian Hancox, Paul Hutchison, Dave Standring and Neil Copping. Other players who supported the O40 team through the season included Steve Aylott, Dave Vale and Susan Lythe. These players regularly support local badminton leagues in the Stockport and Chester areas. The aim of the Cheshire Vets O40 team will be to defend the prestigious national title next season. The O40 team has an exceptionally strong squad of male players but could benefit from attracting a few additional female players. Veteran players with an interest in training with the county vets squad are encouraged to contact Veterans Coordinator David Spencer.
While the O40s were securing their impressive win against Yorkshire, the O45 team played Essex in the final. Unfortunately, they were not able to beat very strong opposition, going down 9-3, but there were excellent performances from the whole team namely, Kathy Isherwood, Jill Jackson, Sue Lythe, Kay Vickers, Andy Buckley, Paul Golds, Dave Hunter and Derek Neary.
