Victory for Norfolk U12's
The Norfolk U12 1st team came home as winners after a dominating team performance in the Eastern Region U12 Badminton tournament. On Sunday 3rd February 2013, two teams from Norfolk travelled to Cambridge for the annual regional event, a tournament which is always hotly contested by teams from the Eastern region of England. This year teams from Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridge, Suffolk and Norfolk contested the title. The Norfolk 1st team, consisting of Callum Cox, George Underwood, Bradley Smith, Caitlin Parfitt, Amy Hayhoe and Jessica Bateman, started brightly with a 6-3 victory over Essex 2. This was followed by a closely contested match against Cambridge with only a few points deciding 4 of the 9 games played. Parfitt was unlucky to lose by a single point against the strong number 1 from Cambridge but gritty performances by Cox, Underwood, Hayhoe and Bateman swung the balance in Norfolkâs favour. This would prove significant by the end of the day. Eventually Norfolk claimed a flattering, but deserved 6-3 victory. Victories over Hertfordshire and the Norfolk 2nd team followed before playing what was a title deciding match against Essex 1. By the end of the doubles, Norfolk was 2-1 down and by the end of 1st two boys and girls singles, Norfolk were still trailing 4-3 with 2 to play. A controlled performance by Bradley Smith levelled the match leaving Jess Bateman the task of winning the deciding game. A nail biting game for both players and parents saw Jess edge the victory 21-19. Norfolk had won 5-4. The final game against Suffolk saw a dominating display by the Norfolk youngsters who finished the tournament unbeaten. At the end of a long and tiring day of Badminton, Norfolk 1 took the title with an unbeaten 12 points, with Cambridge and Essex 1 equal 2nd on 11 points. It was a hard fought victory for the young U12 squad.
Well Done Norfolk !!!
