The County Senior Championships took place at the weekend at Cornwall College’s sports hall at Pool to find this year’s top players, producing two days of quality badminton.
In front of a good crowd on the first day, the men’s and women’s singles events took place with some exciting battles and hard-fought games. The men’s semi-finals featured the two Dyer brothers, Jack and second seed Harry, against top seed and reigning champ Milo Semonin, and Tyler Sillifant, a previous champion.
One of the best and closest games of the weekend was Harry’s match against Tyler, which went the distance of three tight ends of fast, explosive badminton and amazing retrievals, before Tyler eventually won, taking him into the final against Milo, who had beaten Jack in two close ends. In the final, Milo had just too much for a tiring Tyler, and was once again crowned county champion.
The women’s singles event came to a repeat of last year’s final, with top seed Joanna Vyvyan taking on Jess Canfield, and again Joanna came out on top with her strong positional play and court coverage. This event had featured 14-year-old Bridget Murray making her promising debut in her first Cornwall Championships.
The afternoon featured the women’s doubles with a good entry and standard of play, with the final being between thetop seeds Melissa Lin and newcomer Hope Warner taking on Jess and Joanna, this time playing together as a pair. Hope and Melissa had too much quality and finesse, and they won in two convincing ends despite Jess and Joanna giving it their all.
Day two started with the mixed doubles, and with a great mix of youth and experience on court there were some absorbing games to watch. The semi-finals had top seeds Milo and Hope beating Tom Lyle, who was making a welcome return from long term injury, and his new partner Sheila Wu, before second seeds Elliot Dyer and Melissa outlasted the evergreen James Whetter and Vicki Mead. The final proved to be a fairly one-sided affair as Milo and Hope beat Elliot and Melissa in two ends, becoming new mixed champions.
In the last event of the weekend, the men’s doubles had the top 4 seeds duly progressing to the semi-finals, where Milo and Liam Sillifant beat Tom and Elliot in two ends, and the regular pairings of Jack and Harry against James and his long-term partner Guy Michell. This was an exciting game to watch over three ends, with James and Guy just edging the first before Jack and Harry finally triumphed in the next two. The final was another gripping game as Milo and Liam won the first then very narrowly won the second end, which could easily have gone the other way, as the Dyer brothers battled hard for every point. And so Milo finished the weekend as an impressive county champion three times over, and now has the chance with his partners, Hope and Liam, to go onto Badminton England’s Champion of Champions event against other county champions at the headquarters of badminton at Milton Keynes next month.
An excellent weekend’s badminton showcasing the best players against new young players and some county stalwarts who have been around a bit longer, indicating that this season will be a good one to watch.
Results
Men’s singles Milo Semonin beat Tyler Sillifant 21-10 21-10
Women’s singles Joanna Vyvyan beat Jess Canfield 21-11 21-12
Men’s doubles Milo Semonin and Liam Sillifant beat Jack and Harry Dyer 21-15 22-20
Women’s doubles Hope Warner and Melissa Lin beat Joanna Vyvyan and Jess Canfield 21-12 21-12
Mixed doubles Milo Semonin and Hope Warner beat Elliot Dyer and Melissa Lin 21-14 21-6
Plate results
Men’s singles Jake Brazewell beat Cameron Albury 21-15 21-12
Women’s singles Bridget Murray beat Sheila Wu 21-9 21-14
Men’s doubles Julian Cooper and Richard Townsend beat Bob Bell and Jon Wyatt 21-16 21-14
Women’s doubles Vicki Mead and Sara Best beat Sheila Wu and Robyn Warwick 21-13 21-7
Mixed doubles plate Julian Cooper and Jess Canfield beat Guy Michell and Penny Foulds 21-10 22-20
