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TOURNAMENT RESULTS

GENTS SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP

Jedburgh Badminton Club members were presented to an entertaining and somewhat clinical finals display when Paul Bishop played Craig Thom for the singles championship. There were some exceptionally good jaw dropping rallies during the match but Thom made things difficult for himself by giving Bishop an eight to one point lead in the first game. Struggling to find the right length with his serve and creating too many unforced errors resulted in Thom playing catch up for the remainder of the first game and he lost out (21-12).

A much better start by Thom in the second game forced a few errors from Bishop whose strong backhand and attacking style of play are the hallmark of his success. Bishop used the angles to his advantage and with his deceptive flicks to the rear court, Thom was always under pressure.

Both players were feeling the pace and play became more tactical with more ‘one shot winners’ and sliced shots to the fore. Nearly all club members had ceased play by this time and were watching the battle unfold during the second game when the audience were treated to some excellent singles action. Thom’s powerful smash secured him a few points but Bishop returned the majority of them to prolong the rallies in his own favour. ‘The Bishop’ proved too strong for Thom and eventually pulled away to secure the second game and the match (21-12, 21-12). Watch a clip from the rally above.

SINGLES PLATE WINNERS

 Gents knocked out in the first round of the singles competed in a 'plate tournament'. An extremely good tournament this year owing to the large number of gents that entered the singles. There were some real scraps on route to the final and it turned out to be a belter! Phil Halstead against Gregor Simpson. Phil took the first game by cleverly manoeuvring Gregor round the court but Gregor changed his tactics in the second game to make it one game all. A slightly worse for wear Phil realised he had a three ender on his hands but gave a good account of himself in the third and final game that went gregors way. Gregor is the singles plate winner for 2009.

Pictured above: Gregor Simpson and Phil Halstead

BORDER LEAGUE ACTION AND PRIMARY SCHOOL TOURNAMENT

JED TYRE & EXHAUST

INAUGERAL JED TYRE & EXHAUST CHALLENGE CUP

Players at Jedburgh Badminton Club were treated to a new doubles format when The Jed Tyre & Exhaust Challenge Cup had its debut. All the other doubles tournaments are handicapped and the top seeded players are not allowed to be drawn together – not so in this new tournament with the trophy kindly donated by Jed Tyre & Exhaust services in Jedburgh.

A straight draw out of the hat and the teams were ready for battle. With more gents than ladies in attendance, some of the pairings were all gent but the majority of teams were mixed doubles.  The partnership of Graeme Lang and Scott McNeil produced the first three ender when they narrowly lost out to Violet Livingstone and Ross Cockburn in an exciting first round match.

The top half of the draw produced a quarter final between Andrew Haddon and Matt Mace against Myra Younger and Gregor Simpson. The heavy weight duo of Haddon and Mace proved too strong for their opponents who went down in two games (21-9, 21-12).

The other quarter final produced quite possibly the best badminton of the evening when John Peters and Christine Wylie squared up to Paul Bishop and Annie Hall. When Hall was drawn with ‘The Bishop’, who has already scooped a handful of trophies this season, they were definitely the favourites.  Peters and Wylie however, summoned up sufficient energy and in a thrilling tactical third game, made it through to the final (21-8, 9-21, 21-19).

The final was set with Haddon and Mace trying to unnerve their opponents by voicing their combined weight on court. Peters and Wylie responded with their combined years of ninety plus! Haddon and Mace still looked fresh as they took an early lead and took the first game (21-17). A similar pattern followed in the second. Wylie was on form but with the tough three game semi final taking its toll on Peters, his error rate increased and the gap widened. Haddon played to the best of his ability and Mace was consistently good and they raced ahead to take the final game and the match (21-17, 21-11).

CATHERINE FINKLE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

Played in memory of Catherine Finkle who was a cheery and enthusiastic club member, this memorial tournament trophy has always been highly prized by many of the club members who knew Catherine. This mixed doubles tournament saw some tight early round matches as pairs fought their way to the final. A shortage of ladies however resulted in the heavily handicapped mail duo of Matt Mace and Scott McNeil charging through to the final to meet old hands Christine Wylie and Neil Haig.

Running out of time on the night, the final was due to be rescheduled later in the season but never materialised until March. The memorial tournament finally drew to a conclusion in March as there being no communication from Haig, Ben Leslie kindly opted to play with Wylie to ensure this annual tournament drew to a conclusion and was played in the spirit in which it was intended.

Although having to forfeit the final, Wylie and Leslie soon had McNeil diving around the court and strong play from Mace was insufficient to stem the flow of points as the former pair racked up two games in quick succession to take the match. Mace and McNeil will collect the trophy with Wylie and Leslie collecting the glory.

VETERANS TOURNAMENT

It’s was time for the mature players at the club to show their metal in this years Veterans Tournament. In keeping with the nature of this competition, the originator of the tournament was somewhat confused about the tournament date and time and sadly turned up too late to compete! To save Andrew any embarrassment, I won't mention his name ;-) With some players just turned forty and some in their fifties, the games were still fast paced and fortunately no one was in need of inhalers or Zimmer’s at the end of the evening.

Handicapped and seeded, two pools of round robin matches were played to determine the semi-finals. Tracey Kirkpatrick and Charlie Allison were the winners from pool one and they squared up to Violet Livingstone and John Peters, runners up from pool two. Kirkpatrick and Allison stormed ahead in the early part of the game but they were pushed all the way to a 21-18 win to move forward to the final.

Pool two winners Margaret Hewitt and Paul Bishop pitted their wits against Myra Younger and Phil Halstead, pool one runners up. This was a close tie but ‘The Bishop’ as he likes to be known, worked well with his partner to outmanoeuvre the opposition by 21 – 18.

The final was set with Hewitt and Bishop against Kirkpatrick and Allison. Kirkpatrick and Allison played more of a levels type game sharing front and back as the shots demanded whereas ‘The Bishop’ popped up anywhere on court with devastating effect. Hewitt to her credit played extremely well and supported Bishop who had his opponents scrambling around like pawns being chased by the queen. In the second game the outcome was inevitable with a win for Hewitt and Bishop (21 – 18), (21 – 10).

SEEDLESS CUP TOURNAMENT – WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21st 2009

 Finalists from the left: Runners Up-Violet Livingstone and Tom Watters, Winners-Ross Cockburn and Tracey Kirkpatrick

The ‘Seedless Cup’ was first introduced at Jedburgh Badminton Club in 1995. The tournament was devised by Vaughan Hammond, an enthusiastic club member in the 90’s. Vaughan donated the cup with the stipulation that the top Lady and Gent players (The Seeds) for the year are ineligible to compete.

Ten pairs were drawn to compete in this years Seedless Cup which unlike the tournament title suggests, was fought with vigour and testosterone in abundance. Early rounds completed, three of the four top pairs made it through to the semi finals. Angus Towers and Dave Redpath were dumped by Ross Cockburn and Tracey Kirkpatrick in one semi final and in the other match, last years winner Phil Halstead with new partner Annie Hall narrowly lost out to Tom Watters and Violet Livingstone.

In the tournament final, Cockburn and Kirkpatrick took the first game (21-11) as Watters and Livingstone struggled to contain the shuttle on court. With Cockburn and Kirkpatrick dominating the first game, Watters and Livingstone fought back in a tit-for-tat match in the second. At twenty points all it was anyone’s game and the prospect of a three-ender loomed ever closer. With this in mind, Cockburn and Kirkpatrick who were feeling the pace, edged ahead to clinch the game and the match (21-11), (23-21).

A thrilling final took place at Jedburgh Badminton Club when twelve pairs competed in the first tournament of the season for the Handicap Trophy. A mixed doubles tournament with player handicaps applied, games were going to be hard fought as the pairs were selected and positioned on the draw. Two of the seeded pairs made it to the finals with newcomer Paul Bishop teamed up with Violet Livingstone pitted against youngster Ben Leslie and partner Joyce Lightbody. Leslie’s energy and enthusiasm secured the first game and with the gents controlling the game from the rear court, energy sapping rallies followed. Both ladies killed anything short but looked slightly alarmed as shuttles whizzed by their heads as the gents tried to manoeuvre each other around the court. In the second game, Bishop’s masterly touch came to the fore as he wrong footed his opponents with deception and skilfully placed shuttles. Bishop continued to pile on the pressure in the third game and with Leslie recovering from a heavy cold, he eventually ran out of steam. Bishop and Livingstone secured the first trophy of the season winning (15-21, 21-17, 21,11).