BADMINTON: DUCHY UNDER-15’s GO DOWN VALIANTLY The Cornwall Under-15 team went down bravely by 23 rubbers to 13 to Somerset at Truro School, Trennick Lane, Truro, writes John Tresidder, with Andy Lyle. The result does begin to show the shear grit and determination displayed by the twelve Cornish youngsters, who represented their County in yet another nail-biting badminton match. The Boys, once again, played with impressive commitment, in the first six games of singles, winning five out of six rubbers, for the Host. And Chris Glasson, from Camborne, went down, narrowly, in a tight game of three ends of play. The local youngsters, namely, Tom Lyle, Launceston, Will. Pepworth Bude, Tom Hanson and Alex Glover, both Callington and Douglas Andrews Liskeard, all played some badminton of exhibition-class. Meanwhile, the Boys’ Doubles saw Somerset putting out much stronger pairings and, thus, reaping the reward by securing five out of the nine encounters. Nonetheless, each doubles match was seen to be a closely-contested affair. Bronwen, a fine new Cornish kid on the block: The Cornish girls found it more difficult, with only Bronwen Wotton -an up and coming Hayle Community School and First Edition player - winning her singles rubber. The Girls’ Doubles panned out similarly, but the commitment of the home team could not be questioned. The mixed doubles saw Somerset finishing the stronger; but Cornwall made the final match a game to remember: Chris Glasson, partnering Bronwen Wotton, pulled out all the stops, to win in two straight ends, 15-7, 15-3 and were duly cheered on by their team for a supreme effort. Once more, it was a pleasing overall team performance, with Badminton being played to a high standard and the team a credit to the Duchy. * Cornwall Under-15 Team: D. Andrews (Liskeard), C. Glasson (Camborne), T. Lyle (Launceston), A. Glover (Callington), W. Pepworth (Bude), T. Hanson (Callington), C. Whitmore (Truro), B. Wotton (Hayle), C. Powers (Truro), Maddi Easterbrook (Penzance), Ka-Men Tse (Camborne) and E. Waller (Truro). Team Managers: Andy Lyle, Launceston & Steve Glasson, Camborne. John Tresidder, Cornwall County Badminton & Duchy “Open” Press Officer