CORNWALL BADMINTON REVIEW: CORNWALL YOUTH BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS, 2006/2007
9th February, 2007
QUALITY BADMINTON
Parents and spectators were treated to a feast of very high quality badminton over two weekends in January, when Cornwall Youth Badminton staged three sections of the Cornwall Junior Restricted Annual Championships, writes John Tresidder, with Tony Poole.
Firstly, the Under-15’s were in action at Fowey Leisure Centre, when all five disciplines were hotly contested and although there were some very welcome new faces on the entry list, it was among the members of CYB's own county training squad that the eventual finalists were to be found.
The Boys’ singles produced a superb final between the ever-improving Ross Lashbrook and this season's newest find, Connor Moore, the more experienced Lashbrook prevailing in a straight sets final.
The Girls’ singles was perhaps unsurprisingly, contested by two most consistent girls in the county, namely, Leedstown’s Bronwen Wotton and Jo Philp (Port Isaac/Truro School), neither of whom dropped a point on the way to the final.
However, Bronwen proved to have the edge in accuracy in the final to take the crown.
Lashbrook and Moore teamed up to take the Boys’ Doubles, defeating Andrew Brewster and Phil Lyle, while in similar style, Wotton and Philp also teamed up to take the Girls’ Doubles, pushing the pairing of Charlotte Heather and Lorna Garbett into second place in a round-robin event (63 points to 50 points).
If the spectators might have expected the Mixed Doubles to be something of an easy-going fun event to round off the day, they were very quickly disabused of the notion, as this proved to be one of the most exciting contests of the day.
Lorna Garbett, who has worked so hard this season to lift her game into the highest quality, teamed up with Patrick Davis, returning from injury. to make a great outfit.
The duo faced Philp and Moore in the final, which proved to be arguably the best match of the day. Brilliant serving from Garbett and superb court coverage from Davis were not quite enough to stop Philp from taking her second title of the day - teaming up with partner Moore, in a match which earned a standing ovation from those watching.
The new Under-15 champions and runners-up;
Winner: Ross Lashbrook
Runner-up: Connor Moore
Girls’ Singles
Winner: Bronwen Wotton
Runner-up: Jo Philp
Boys’ Doubles
Winners: Ross Lashbrook and Connor Moore
Runners-up: Andrew Brewster and Phil Lyle
Girls’ Doubles
Winners: Bronwen Wotton and Jo Philp
Runners-up: Charlotte Heather and Lorna Garbett
Mixed Doubles
Winners: Jo Philp and Connor Moore
Runners-up: Lorna Garbett and Patrick Davis
Under 17's Championships:
Then, on the next day, the Sunday, the Championships moved to the magnificent new sports hall, at the Roseland Community School, Tregony, for the Under-17 event.
Competition for trophies was equally intense with, again, most of CYB's squad members making up the bulk of the entries and taking all the first places, once more.
The Boys’ Singles produced an incredible final between Douglas Andrews and Chris Glasson, the score swinging one way and then the other, especially remarkable for the brilliant defensive play of Glasson, who fought hard all the way against Andrews, whose power, prevailed – but by the narrowest of margins.
The Girls’ final was between county number two, Claire Whitmore and the number one, county champion, Emily James.
Intense and high quality play saw James retain the title she won last year. County Chair-person Mrs. Jenny Marchant, was present to witness both singles matches and declared herself very impressed with the standard of play. She further honoured the occasion to present the trophies.
Andrews teamed up with his squad mate Tom Lyle in the doubles, to again deny Glasson and his partner Will Pepworth in the doubles, in a match where the quality did not drop throughout the full three games.
The girls continued the spectacle with James and Whitmore now teaming up to take the title, beating Jo. Philp and Bronwen Wotton, the Under 15's champions in the final.
James and Lyle were in action again, this time in the Mixed Doubles competition, where they were to face the new pairing of Bronwen Wotton and Luke Bristow in the final.
Wotton and Bristow certainly earned the respect of their more experienced opponents who were made to fight hard for every point, with James and Lyle taking the honours in straight sets.
Under-17 Results:
Winner: Douglas Andrews
Runner-up: Chris Glasson
Girls’ Singles
Winner: Emily James
Runner-up: Claire Whitmore
Boys’ Doubles
Winners: Douglas Andrews and Tom Lyle
Runners-up: Chris Glasson and Will Pepworth
Girls’ Doubles
Winners: Emily James and Claire Whitmore
Runners-up: Jo Philp and Bronwen Wotton
Mixed Doubles
Winners: Emily James and Tom Lyle
Runners-up: Bronwen Wotton and Luke Bristow
Under 13's Championships:
Meanwhile, another superb day of sport was witnessed, as the County's Under-13's gave a display of extremely good and competitive badminton - returning to Fowey Leisure Centre, again - on a later weekend.
A strong field assembled to contest all five disciplines including the majority of the current CYB training squad, augmented by some notable talent not hitherto seen.
With many of the games being decided by the narrowest of margins, all the honours, but one, fell eventually to members of CYB, many of whom are themselves new to the game this season.
The Boys’ singles final was the first played with four boxes contesting the early rounds. In the final was Ben Cooper who found himself up against David Grant, when it took all of Cooper's experience to overcome his tricky opponent, to take the title.
In the Girls’ matches, the spectators were treated to newcomers on both sides of the net, where the graceful skills of Beth Wotton were to prove of no avail against the power of Imogen Powell.
One of CYB's youngest members, Ben Johnson teamed up with Tony Marshall, proving a fine partnership.
It proved to be allied to the guile of Marshall and powerful retrieving abilities of Johnson proving too much for Ben Cooper and his partner Lee Chapple, another new find, this season
The Girls’ singles finalists, Powell and Wotton teamed up in the Girls’ doubles, where a round-robin format resulted in them facing the very promising newcomers of Corinna Garbett and Charlotte Summerville.
This was a fiercely contested game in which greater accuracy on serve proved the decisive factor to give Powell and Wotton the title.
An initially small field of entrants for the mixed was swelled by enthusiastic scratch pairings, forged on the day to make for a compelling round-robin.
The more experienced pairings, arguably, comprising: Powell and Cooper and Wotton and Marshall were the form-horses taking winner and runners-up honours, respectively.
As with the other age groups, the championships were refereed by the CYB chairman, Tony Poole who also had the privilege of presenting the prizes. He was assisted on the day by members of CYB committee and team managers.
Tony Poole thus commented: "I was extremely pleased with the performances of the youngsters, all of whom can be proud of what they achieved - some of them in a very short space of time.
“With this level of commitment from the players, I know the team managers are thrilled with their squads and, in the case of the Under 13's, most certainly, it shows CYB is very definitely moving in the right direction to make Cornish teams not to be taken lightly!
“Today's players will surely be the foundation of the Cornwall senior teams in the years to come."
STOP-PRESS: CORNWALL YOUTH BADMINTON’S INTER-COUNTY SUCCESS IN DEVON.
Last Sunday Week, the Cornwall Under-17’s Team, skippered by Tom Lyle, the Launceston College student, travelled over the Tamar and defeated the Devon, by 20 rubbers to 16, at the University of Exeter Sports Hall.
It was a momentous and famous victory for the Duchy and the result proved that badminton is alive and kicking in England as well as in Kernow.
Finally, a match report will be printed next week.
John Tresidder
Cornwall County, CYB & Duchy “Open” Badminton Press/PR Officer.
|