Information on Senior Tournaments and County Team matches up to the end of November 2017.
Senior Tournaments
County Restricted Tournament
The annual “Restricted” tournament took on a new look this year with the doubles events being amalgamated with a Graded Doubles tournament on October 1st and the singles similarly combined with a Graded Singles Tournament on October 22nd. With some notable absentees, including last year’s double champion Sarah Renton, there was opportunity for others to step up but that didn’t stop Philip Pahatouridis from being a double champion again, as last year. The new format made for a much better experience on the day.
Full Results:-
Men’s Singles: Philip Pahatouridis beat Ashraf Alam 14-21, 21-13, 21-15;
Men’s Doubles: Richard Eaton and Steve Swan beat Garrylee McMullen & Steven Gibbons 15-21, 25-23, 21-16;
Ladies Doubles: Lucy Dixon & Rachel Frobisher beat Eleanor Laws & Catherine Thomas 21-13, 21-14;
Mixed Doubles: Philip Pahatouridis & Laura Nichols beat Richard Eaton & Rachel Frobisher 21-17, 21-14.
Senior Silver
The annual Northumberland Senior Silver Tournament attracted the usual quality field led by Josh Young from Teesside who was top seed in both singles and doubles, with partner Martin Drabble, defending both his titles from last year. Northumberland’s young guns featured strongly with 5 semi-final appearances and one final.
Philip Pahatouridis lost to Josh Young in the singles final, the latter having also beaten Garrylee McMullen in the semi. The men’s doubles saw McMullen partner Ryan Quek from Worcestershire and they made the semi before going down in three sets but the shock result was in the other half of the draw with Young and Drabble going down in three sets in their opening match to James Lauder, once ranked as high as 11 in England, and Jack Smith from Oxfordshire who went on to win.
Emily Harrison, another product of the Northumberland PC and a ‘Gold’ junior player, was the next to make a semi, partnering CiCi Lu from Yorkshire, and they were defeated only narrowly by ex-pat Vicky Brewis and Elena Johnson of Guernsey, the top seeds, 11-21, 21-19, 21-19, the latter going on to lose the final in 3 sets.
In the mixed doubles, it was Philip who again featured strongly when, together with Newcastle Uni student Cici Lu, he beat the top seeds Drabble and Vickers in the quarter-final 21-14, 23-21. Their semi-final, first up on Sunday morning against Elena Johnson and Jordan Trebert from Guernsey was the closest of weekend and they were unfortunate to go down 17-21, 21-18, 25-23, having a match point of their own at 22-21 and saving two against them!
Full Results:-
Men’s Singles: Josh Young (Yorkshire) beat Philip Pahatouridis (Northumberland) 21-14, 21-15;
Ladies Singles: Basia Grodynska (Lothian) beat Cici Lu (Yorks) 14-21, 21-17, 21-15;
Men’s Doubles: James Lauder & Jack Smith (Oxford) beat Robert Cooper (Staffs) and Alex Hutchings (Jersey) 21-18, 15-21, 23-21;
Ladies Doubles: Sophie Brealey (Derbyshire) & Rachel Vickers (Cheshire) beat Vicky Brewis (Yorkshire) & Elena Johnson (Guernsey) 16-21, 21-18, 21-9;
Mixed Doubles: Ben & Ellie Wheatley (Derbyshire) beat Jordan Trebert & Elena Johnson (Guernsey) 21-16, 22-20.
Senior Bronze
The third Northumberland Senior Bronze Tournament saw some 76 players vying for the honours at the Tyneside Badminton Centre. The lowest grade of Badminton England’s tournament circuits, in that players graded nationally A to C cannot enter, meant that Northumbria and ex Tyne Met student Garrylee McMullen could not defend his title as his improvement since last season meant he was now a ‘C’ grade, as was local rival Philip Pahatouridis.
That left the way clear for Richard Eaton to be top seed and he duly made the final before going down to Durham University student Pak Yu Ng from Hong Kong in two sets. Richie then partnered Eddie Burgess to the semis of the men’s doubles.
In the ladies doubles, Northumberland’s Eleanor Laws and Catherine Thomas won their group to make the final only to go down in 3 hard fought sets. Eleanor also made the quarters of the mixed with Alex Robinson of Durham before losing to the second seeds.
Men’s Singles: Pak Yu Ng (Durham) beat Richard Eaton (Northumberland) 21-16, 21-9;
Ladies Singles: Ella Hodgson (Durham) beat Laura Muir (Lothian) 21-12, 21-12;
Men’s Doubles: Scott Sankey & Joe Steele (Lancashire) beat Mark Mackay & Craig Lamb (Lothian) 21-18, 21-17;
Ladies Doubles: Wanwimon Lloyd & Laura Wall (Yorkshire) beat Eleanor Laws & Catherine Thomas (Northumberland) 19-21, 21-17, 21-16;
Mixed Doubles: Tom Davies & Joshmyn Bong (Durham) beat Yu Ting Cheung & Natalie Jones (Yorkshire) 21-19, 21-17
Senior County Matches
County 1st Team
The first Saturday of the Senior County Championships saw North’s first team up against Lothian and Yorkshire 4 at Huddersfield University and a day of mixed fortunes saw them even on the day at 11 all. The day arguably belonged to Ashraf Alam though, promoted from the second team on the back of an unbeaten season, he continued that streak and didn’t lose a set all day.
They went down in their opening match to Lothian 7-4 with two men’s singles and both men’s doubles to show for their efforts. In the afternoon they balanced that off with a 7-4 win against Yorkshire 4, this time securing all 3 men’s singles and both men’s doubles, which meant Garrylee McMullen was also unbeaten on the day. This time the ladies backed that up with Catherine Thomas winning her singles and then combining with Eleanor Laws to take the second ladies, this on their debut for the first team.
County 2nd Team
Following their promotion last season, the second team began their campaign at home with matches against Glasgow 2, relegated last season and Lothian 2, always a tough game historically. Wins for Jamie Tinnion, Sarah Wilson and Robyn Luckley saw them lead 3-2 after the singles and overall they lost only once more to record an opening 8-3 win. Sarah & Robyn also won their ladies and Eddie Burgess and Rachel Frobisher also both won twice.
The afternoon saw another strong performance again resulting in an 8-3 win, this time consolidating a 4-1 lead from the singles, Sarah and Robyn and Eddie again being unbeaten as was Dan Rogerson. So a score of 16-6 from the opening weekend, admittedly against two of the weaker teams in the division but even that saw them only placed third overall.
County 3rd Team
North’s newly entered third team began their campaign with matches against Cumbria 2, usually a close affair and Scottish Midlands who North’s second team just pipped for promotion last season.
Suffering from a number late withdrawals, North were indebted to 3 Newcastle University students for stepping up to the plate for the opening match on Saturday afternoon against Cumbria 2 but they went down 9-2 to their more experienced opponents, the bright spots being a win for Rachel Bogan on her senior debut and also for Jess Wright and Anna Railton.
Sunday morning saw them take on, and defeat Scottish Midlands to offset the defeat from the previous day. Wins from Rex Lee, another Newcastle Uni student, and Ellie Roberts and Rachel saw them lead 3-2 after the singles. The men’s doubles were shared, Rex winning again with Andy Renton, and they took both ladies to clinch the match at 6-3. Splitting the mixed gave a final score of 7-4 and 9-13 on the weekend, a respectable opening.
Steve Abbott, Chairman, Competitive Play Sub-committee