County Match Round up

Having suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Surrey, the county second team has bounced back to winning ways with 12-3 victories over Essex and Northamptonshire. These victories put them back on top of Division 5c of the Victor Sports Inter-county Championships and with just four matches remaining, a quick return to Division 4 looks on the cards.

The team were cruising through their match against Northants with Mike Philpott, Andy Piff, Michelle Lewin and Charlotte Crosby all winning their singles, but they then suffered a set-back when James Ruthen sustained a back injury which caused him and partner Paul Daynes to lose their first doubles and concede their second. Philpott and Christian Nielsen shared their two games, but the ladies, Lewin and Amber Nielsen and Crosby and Katie Price won all four, bringing the score to 9-3 in Norfolks favour going into the remaining three mixed games, which brought comfortable victories over a despondent Northants side who were, themselves, harbouring hopes of promotion before the match started.

Both county teams have home matches at Easton Sports Centre on Sunday, commencing at 12 noon, with the first team playing Worcestershire and the seconds up against Buckinghamshire. Both teams had comfortable wins in the corresponding away fixtures earlier in the season. Spectators are welcome.

* Because of the continued success and enthusiasm for badminton in the west of the county, this seasons Under 11s/13s moderates tournaments were held in Kings Lynn. Many children from all over the county entered, although West Norfolk youngsters enjoyed the home advantage and came away with most of the titles.

The Under 11s boys singles was played in two large groups, giving the boys up to eight games. The eventual semi-finalists were Dominic Ely who beat Sean Lott 15-7 and Toby Hoare who beat Matthew Baker 15-8. Ely then raced away to take the title with a convincing 15-8 victory. In the doubles,Ely teamed up with Lott and reached the final with a

21-9 win over George Vickers and Robbie Hobson. In the other semi, Hoare and Josh Claxton beat Baker and Arjun Bendre 21-13. The final produced a close match with Ely and Lott coming out on top 21-17, giving Ely his second title of the day.

The Under 11s girls singles was played in one group with Kathryn Baker winning the deciding match against Elspeth Straffon-Lawrence 21-13 to take the title. The two girls then paired up to win the doubles, with first time entrant Emma Bacon and her Yarmouth partner, Kate Sawyer taking second place.

The Under 13s boys event produced some excellent games with a thrilling final in which Ben Page from Norwich narrowly beat Richard Simpson 15-14. The boys doubles was also won by a Norwich pairing of George Vickers and Robbie Hobson beating the unlucky Simpson and his partner Daniel Warburton 21-19 in the deciding game.

Another West Norfolk success came in the Under 13s girls singles. Playing in her first tournament, Katie Daines swept to victory, comfortably winning all her games, with Ayla Burridge runner up. The two girls then paired up and were unstoppable in the doubles, taking the title from Kathryn Baker and Grace Bacon in second place.