University Match Report (2)

Men’s Badminton team ‘Serve’ up a treat against Lincoln

UCB edges past a resilient Lincoln 3^rd team thanks to a slice of good fortune to close the gap on the league’s top three.

Richie Mills – February 15^th – Maltings sports hall.

Fresh off their impressive 5-3 win away to Staffordshire 2^nd’s the week before, the Men’s Badminton team repeated the feat in a 5-3 home victory over Lincoln 3rd's.

Ahead of this encounter both sides had accumulated solitary wins this season, though in UCB’s case they were unfortunate not to have snatched wins at home to Lincoln’s 2^nd team and away to Newham University College respectively, which highlighted the importance of this particular match with both keen to grab their second triumph of the year in a difficult league.

D. Yeo (far side) vs Lincoln player

UCB started as slight favourites due to their higher league standing and led by Captain Darren Yeo it was the home side that made the brighter start in the singles with both Captain Yeo and Alex James, recording comprehensive wins in the first set of the best of 3 set match.
James, coincidentally plays in the Yorkshire league, proved to be UCB’s trump card by inflicting a ruthless and efficient demolition of the opposition’s first and 2^nd seeds with a score line of 21-6, 21-9 and 21-0, 21-6. On both occasions his challengers cut dejected figures after being on the receiving end of two powerful performances, but all was not lost.

Lincoln, however, did not look discouraged.
Despite dropping the first set 21-13 against Yeo, he was admirably pegged back by the opposing player, whom eventually took a thrilling, marathon like second set 26-24 to force a decider with the momentum appearing to be with the travelling team.

Nevertheless Yeo, who looked rather disconsolate following that epic 2^nd set loss, was undeterred, proving his mettle by racing into an early lead in the final set before sealing a convincing 21-9 win. This proved to be crucial as unfortunately the captain’s exertions from the first match had visibly taken its toll and eventually succumbed to a gallant 15-21, 18-21 defeat, giving UCB a slender 3-1 lead heading into the doubles encounters.

UCB doubles (Near side)

Regrettably the doubles pairings of Ooi Yuen Chen and Kent Tan, Matt Richards and Louis Lee were unable to emulate their fellow singles players’ achievements. The home teams doubles partners were on the receiving end of 21-11, 21-10 and 21-15, 21-19 defeats against a strong Lincoln outfit.

Crucially though what eventually determined the whole tie was Lincoln’s inability to field a full six man team and as a result handed the win to UCB. What may have proved a fruitless day, turned out to be a gratifying conquest against the rather unlucky visitors.
This sentiment was echoed by home team captain Darren Yeo commenting that ‘We played quite well today against a good team and we won... just.’ The words of a joyous and somewhat relieved man you can probably imagine.

Team Photo

With the season winding down, further successes may be on the horizon with their season concluding encounter against their winless local adversaries Wolverhampton at home on February the 29^th.

Team Sheet:

Singles: Darren Yeo and Alex James.

Doubles: Yuen Chen and Kent Tan, Matt Richards and Louis Lee.