Roy's Legacy
The St Ursula's U12 and U16 teams became National champions at the NBL finals at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21 May 2017.
Well done also to Chew Valley who were runners up in the U14s
See the report and photos below.
The St Ursula's U12 and U16 teams became National champions at the NBL finals at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21 May 2017.
Well done also to Chew Valley who were runners up in the U14s
See the report and photos below.
Under 12s
Rosie Dodds, Fabio Soldani, Aarya Ramachandra, Prarthana Reddy and Pranav Kulkarni
The best result possible from the Under 12 team at the Finals of the Junior National Badminton League where they became National Champions. With the withdrawal of some teams the format was extended to best of 5 games to 9 points. Chew Valley also took silver medal place in the U14 competition behind Swifts.
First match was against the Leicester City FC Community Trust who were game but inexperienced players and resulted in a 5-0 win for St Ursula's with all rubbers being won in a straight 3-0 scoreline. Fabio and Rosie took the singles then Pranav and Fabio took boys doubles, Rosie and Prarthana the girls doubles and Pranav and Prathana the mixed.
Swifts also beat Leicester 5-0.
The final match then was against the 2016 title holders Swifts and got off to a great start with Aarya giving a textbook professional performance to take the singles 3-0 matched by an equally impressive Prarthana 3-0. The boys doubles proved much more competitive with Swifts taking the rubber 3-1 against Fabio and Aarya. The girls doubles then saw Prarthana and Rosie regain control in a 9-3,-9-6, 9-6 win to ensure an unassailable lead in the match. The mixed was taken by Swifts in 4 games 9-5, 9-4, 7-9, 9-5 but the U12 delight could not be hidden and the cup and glass trophy were presented to the team by Julia Strong the Badminton England National Game Director.
First match was against the Leicester City FC Community Trust who were game but inexperienced players and resulted in a 5-0 win for St Ursula's with all rubbers being won in a straight 3-0 scoreline. Fabio and Rosie took the singles then Pranav and Fabio took boys doubles, Rosie and Prarthana the girls doubles and Pranav and Prathana the mixed.
Swifts also beat Leicester 5-0.
The final match then was against the 2016 title holders Swifts and got off to a great start with Aarya giving a textbook professional performance to take the singles 3-0 matched by an equally impressive Prarthana 3-0. The boys doubles proved much more competitive with Swifts taking the rubber 3-1 against Fabio and Aarya. The girls doubles then saw Prarthana and Rosie regain control in a 9-3,-9-6, 9-6 win to ensure an unassailable lead in the match. The mixed was taken by Swifts in 4 games 9-5, 9-4, 7-9, 9-5 but the U12 delight could not be hidden and the cup and glass trophy were presented to the team by Julia Strong the Badminton England National Game Director.
Under 16s
Will Mullaney, Om Reddy, Jenny Wong, Hannah Warren, Joe Warren and Izzy Mullen
On Sunday 21 May it was the turn of the U16s to play at Milton Keynes against 11 other teams from around the country. Drawn in Group A the first match was against the unknown quantity of Bidgley BC and Om took to the boys singles and showed a cool temperament to take control of the rubber winning 9-1, 9-1. Then it was the turn of new St Ursula's player Jenny to take on Jodie Locke and similarly showed her skills in a 9-2, 9-2 win. The boys doubles saw Will and Om as our top boys partnership take another comfotable win 2 games to 0 to put the match out of Bidgley's reach. The Girls doubles placed Hannah and Izzy with another straightforward win by 2 games to 0 and finally Will and Hannah completed the match to Give our U16s a 5-0 match score, conceding just 22 points.
Next opponents were Beckfoot School and this time Will and Hannah obliged in the singles both with straighforward wins, Will and Om had more resistance in their doubles but still took the rubber in 2 games before Izzy partnered Jenny for yet another convincing 2 game win. Finally Izzy and Joe were not troubled by the Beckfoot mixed pairing and took another 2 game win to make another 5-0 victory and only 28 points conceded.
The last match of the group was against the stronger Durham Schools team but on a roll by now Will confidently won in 2 games then a titanic battle with Jenny taking on the talented Madeline Atkinson in 3 bruising games, the first to Jenny 9-8, the second to Madeline 9-8 and the decider went with Jenny 5-4. The other rubbers went comparatively calmly all in 2 games to St Ursula's to win the group and go into the final against the winner of groups B (Swifts) and C (Bedford Juniors) which turned out to be Swifts after their 3-2 win over Bedford.
The final was very tense with some surprises. Boys singles saw a nervous Will play very uncharacteristically tight against Anish Goel and lost in 2 games 5 and 4. Jenny took on Swifts Ishita Mann to go down by 8 and 4 leaving the team needing to win all the doubles matches. In a very tight boys doubles Will redeemed himself with Om to win in 2 games 7 and 7. Izzy and Hannah then went on to resume some better order and take the rubber to 1 and 5 leaving the match to be resolved on the final rubber when Hannah and Om took on Daisy Murphy and Cameron Warne and continued the controlling theme of the day with a 9-3, 9-4 win to ensure gold medal position.
The presentations were made by BE president Diana Troke.
Next opponents were Beckfoot School and this time Will and Hannah obliged in the singles both with straighforward wins, Will and Om had more resistance in their doubles but still took the rubber in 2 games before Izzy partnered Jenny for yet another convincing 2 game win. Finally Izzy and Joe were not troubled by the Beckfoot mixed pairing and took another 2 game win to make another 5-0 victory and only 28 points conceded.
The last match of the group was against the stronger Durham Schools team but on a roll by now Will confidently won in 2 games then a titanic battle with Jenny taking on the talented Madeline Atkinson in 3 bruising games, the first to Jenny 9-8, the second to Madeline 9-8 and the decider went with Jenny 5-4. The other rubbers went comparatively calmly all in 2 games to St Ursula's to win the group and go into the final against the winner of groups B (Swifts) and C (Bedford Juniors) which turned out to be Swifts after their 3-2 win over Bedford.
The final was very tense with some surprises. Boys singles saw a nervous Will play very uncharacteristically tight against Anish Goel and lost in 2 games 5 and 4. Jenny took on Swifts Ishita Mann to go down by 8 and 4 leaving the team needing to win all the doubles matches. In a very tight boys doubles Will redeemed himself with Om to win in 2 games 7 and 7. Izzy and Hannah then went on to resume some better order and take the rubber to 1 and 5 leaving the match to be resolved on the final rubber when Hannah and Om took on Daisy Murphy and Cameron Warne and continued the controlling theme of the day with a 9-3, 9-4 win to ensure gold medal position.
The presentations were made by BE president Diana Troke.
