Matches

In a repeat fixture from 2016 ESJBA travelled to East Grinstead to play in a 3 way tie match versus Felbridge BC Juniors & Forest BC.

10 players from each club took part in the fixture with players ranging from 10 to 15 years old.  There were some really well contested singles and doubles games all played in a friendly atmosphere where the older ones scored games for the younger and less experienced players.  Some players had little experience of playing singles but gave it a go on the day; overall 45 games we played in 2 hours.  ESJBA proved a little too strong on the day for the other two sides; see the breakdown of the results below.  Well done to the ESJBA team and a special thanks to Nicola Hills (Felbridge BC) and to Gill Fairham (Forest BC) for helping organise the match.

In October, ESJBA travelled to Tunbridge Wells to take on St John’s Junior Badminton club in what has become an annual friendly fixture. 15 players from each club covering three age groups U13, U15 and U17 played in the well contested match; in all 56 singles and doubles games were played in 3 hours. St John’s have often proved too strong for ESJBA, however on this occasion the tables were turned and ESJBA put together a strong team performance winning overall. For a few players, Toby Howe, Tom Wilkieson, Alice Archer, Alice Sheppard and Sahara Moshref, this was a first match representing ESJBA and so a particular well done to them as well as to the whole team. A particularly big thank-you to St John’s coach Nigel Perry for organising the match and refreshments.

Now in its 3^rd season ESJBA hosted its annual TEAM challenge event at the Hailsham Community College. The event was organised as a 4-way team competition in two age groups; U13 and U15-17. Badminton clubs from across Sussex were invited including Worthing Juniors, Lewes BC, Forest BC and St Johns BC.  The event is styled on the NBL competition where each team of 6 (3 boys and 3 girls) plays one match against the other 3 teams with the result being decided as the best of 5 games – boy’s and girl’s singles, mixed doubles and boy’s and girl’s doubles. To increase the tension, the teams can use a “power play” shuttle to claim 2 points if they win a chosen point.

Teams played each match on a dedicated court with a volunteer umpire. This meant that players and supporters watching from the side lines could cheer on their respective team mates which really added to the atmosphere in the hall. Team coaches were allowed to motivate between ends and games and help players with tactics & choose when to play their power play shuttle.

The event as always provided some exciting and competitive badminton. In the U13 event, Worthing Juniors won all their matches and proved a little too strong for the other teams. In the U15-17 things were a little closer. The winners, ESJBA, won all their 3 matches, but two matches were won 3-2 with results hinging on a 5-4 win in the deciding end of the mixed doubles.  Trophies were awarded to the winning clubs who will be asked back next season to defend their trophy!   A special thanks to the coaches and helpers from WJ, St Johns, Forest and Lewes for their help on the day and making the event so enjoyable for the players involved.

TEAM Challenge Event Results 2017

U13 Winners – Worthing Juniors (Joel Butler, Zach Blake, Drew Hammersley, Lily Wingrove, Yohansa Bandaranayake, Aryaki Saykhedkar)

U13 Runners Up –  Lewes BC (Samuel Farley, Gabriel Penrose, Xavier Leggo, Lara Hammond, Bridget Rawson)

U15-17 Winners – ESJBA (Jessica Newberry, Georgia Thomas, Abbey Spencer, Alex Pusey, Nathan Davidson, Ryan Burdett)

U15-17 Runners Up – St Johns BC (Abigail Colley, Kimberley Dawson, Kelvin Chan, Dominic Burns, Tim Gray)

ESJBA travelled to Tunbridge Wells to take on St John’s Junior Badminton club in a friendly fixture. 15 players from each club covering 3 age groups U14, U16 and U18 played. Yet again, not that were counting, St John’s proved to be too strong for ES however the matches were well fought and a few of the youngest squad players including Jack Hammond, Oliver Williams and Matthew Morgan and Curtis Lynam got there first experience of inter-club matches…well done to them. As always a particularly big thank you to St John’s coach Nigel Perry for organising the match and refreshments.

ESJBA travelled to Worthing Juniors in November for another friendly fixture this time taking 17 players covering 3 age groups U14, U16 and U17+.  The match was a real marathon of player endurance being played over 4 hours and including 3 rounds of singles and 4 rounds of doubles matches.  Whilst Worthing Juniors won the match overall 50-40 ESJBA proved very strong in the doubles games and the tally for the doubles was decided as a 18-18 draw in an exciting last match of the day.

A special well done to ES players Alfie Stretton, Alex Ciobanu and Nathan Davidson who played there first match.  As always a particularly big thank you to Chris and Janice Byerley for hosting and organising such a terrific match.

A new fixture for this season, ESJBA invited St John’s Junior Badminton club, based in Tunbridge Wells, for a friendly match. 15 players from each club covering 3 age groups U14, U16 and U18 played.  Well done to Tom Rait, Jevon Fullalove, Callum Napier and Sam Bailey who made their debut for East Sussex.

Always exciting to take on a new club and although St John’s proved to be too strong for ES on the day the matches were well fought and lots of players got experience against players they may otherwise only come across in tournaments.

A particularly big thank you to St John’s coach Nigel Perry for organising their team, hopefully Nigel will be persuaded to host a return fixture in 2016!

A brand new idea for 2015….ESJBA decided to host and run a 4-way team challenge event in the style of the “NBL matches”.&nbsp; We invited local clubs Worthing Juniors and Lewes BC to enter teams of 6 players in two age groups.&nbsp; In each age group 4 teams played one match against each other with the result being best of 5 games i.e. boy’s and girl’s singles, mixed doubles and boy’s and girl’s straight doubles.&nbsp; Each game was played as best of 3 rubbers, 2 rubbers to 9 and the last to 5 (or 3 clear).&nbsp; We introduced a coloured power play shuttle to add the drama of a team being able to claim 2 points if they won the chosen point.</p>

The event provided to be an exciting 4 hours of badminton.  The 4 court hall was organised so that matches between teams were on a single court with a dedicated scorer.  This meant that players and supporters watching from the court side lines could cheer on their respective team mates which really added to the atmosphere in the hall.  Team captains and coaches were allowed to motivate between ends and games and help players choose when to play their power play shuttle.  The event had an exciting conclusion with the winners and runners-up in both age groups playing each other in the last match; both matches went to 2-2 before the deciding game of boy’s doubles; both games went to the final deciding rubber …see results below.  Trophies were awarded to the winning clubs who will be asked back next season to defend their trophy!!

A special thanks to the coaches and helpers from WJ and Lewes BC for their help running this event.
ESJBA very much hopes to make this an annual team match fixture.

A new fixture for this season, ESJBA was invited by Rodean School for an evening match to take on their Badminton club. ESJBA selected all its girls and a few brave boys from its senior squad to take on the all girl’s school and Rodean, to help balance things, organised a few boys from a local Brighton club. It was really useful for the ESJBA players to have an evening concentrating on girl’s doubles and mixed doubles and also good for Rodean who could include a good number of their players who were less experienced in matches. The noise level in the 4 court hall was pretty loud with all the local support for the Rodean team however ESJBA managed to stay focused and secure an AWAY win overall on the night. A big thank you to Rodean for hosting the fixture and especially to Nicky Holness for organising the matches!

A first this season, East Sussex travelled to Worthing Juniors on Sunday 19th January 2014. 30 juniors attended a match which was super efficiently organised and run by the hosts Chris and Janice Byerley. The match was played in great spirit by all the players and many of the games were close and well fought. U11 players Rebecca Moon and Grace Tye competed in there first ever match for East Sussex and whilst they found it tough really enjoyed all the games they played. On this occasion Worthing Juniors proved too strong for East Sussex in the younger age groups and visa versa in the older age groups, overall the match was tied. A re-match is being planned.

Sussex took 8 players took to Medway Badminton club on Saturday 30th Nov 2013. A great afternoon of badminton followed with some great games and many of the doubles games being very close. On this occasion Medway fielded a team of enthusiastic beginners and so whilst the overall result went fairly easily to East Sussex I am sure we will see many of the young Medway players again as they develop in the coming seasons.

ESJBA vs Hildenborough – Saturday 19th Oct 2013

A great afternoon of badminton with some really good games for parents and coaches to enjoy. The matches included a great game between two U11’s, Cameron (ESJBA) and Sam (HBC), who battled it out to 29 all before the deciding point went to Sam…both players exhausted!! The overall result went to Hildenborough on this occasion, see table for the results breakdown. A return fixture is being planned for 2014.

Match Results Summary

ESJBA vs Hildenborough – Sunday 24th Feb 2013

16 East Sussex players from the U11, U13 and U15 squads took on a Hildenborough Badminton club who always bring a strong team. A great morning of badminton ensued, with all matches being played in a friendly and competitive atmosphere with some really great games for parents and coaches to enjoy. The overall result was close and on this occasion went to ESJBA 26 – 22. See the below table for the results breakdown. A return fixture is being planned for November 13, well done to all.

Sat 25^th ESJBA played host to Hildenborough B.C. for our sixth friendly fixture of the season. Our team put up a good fight but were outclassed by a very strong Hildenborough side.  All of the ESJBA team acquitted themselves very well despite the strength of the opposition. We were severely lacking in strength in the older age group due to players not being available on a Saturday. This is something we will need to address next season. Our #1 U17, Toby Spillard had turned out only after being laid up with tonsillitis all week.  After playing a couple of games it was apparent that he had not fully recovered and retired from the match, which was a big blow as this diminished our side somewhat. The Hildenborough club is a premier Club and has a very strong development programme with over 100 youngsters from Grade1 down to beginners.  They brought with them some Graded players which they really shouldn’t have, as these players would not have been stretched sufficiently. These players are entering tournaments on a regular basis and some are as strong as their County counterparts. They also brought with them a couple of ‘unseasoned’ match players who performed extremely well.  Their players have the advantage of having a wider depth of standards and strengths to train with thus they will always be able to field a stronger side.  Their team manager, Tara Easton was extremely helpful and kept me on my toes in keeping games on court. Not knowing all our players as well as our coaches, names and strengths were difficult for me to deal with at first, nonetheless, the courts were in constant use and most players got 3-6 games each.  147 games were played in total. There was a problem with both teams not having equal opposition in numbers and sexes; this always leads to delays and imparity in selection of games, thus also part of the reason for the results. Once all the scheduled games had been played, we mixed the pairings up, one Hildenborough player and one ESJBA player against a similar pairing.  This gave all the players the opportunity to perform with a partner they were not familiar with which can only widen their on-court experience. I would have preferred to have had just two age groups and then the players would have had more games each. Again this could be something worth looking at in the future.  Two players from each team were nominated by Tara and myself based upon their effort and attitude during the match. This was a difficult call as all our players did so well,  if not winning many games. The final result was 15/35 to Hildenborough. (We lost in all U13/15/17’s but just won our U11 group-which shows it was not all a one-sided event and  shows promise for the future).

Picture shows some of the players at the end of the day.

East Sussex have played in 4 fixtures so far in 11-12.  We played Marsh Academy (a new fixture for 2011-12)
home and away and our thanks goes to Andre Double for helping us organise the two matches.
Marsh Academy are a keen school based Badminton Club, hopefully this will be a regular annual fixture in the coming years.

In November we traveled to Hildenborough BC in Sevenoaks, see above. They are a large established Kent club and this
was an extremely tough fixture especially for the younger players.  All 16 players got lots of games and some great
singles and doubles match experience.  We take on Hildenborough at home again in February-12.

Also in November, Medway BC came to Crowborough, see photo.  They brought a strong team and some there was
some good badminton for the squad players and their parents to watch.  Again we are hoping to confirm
a return fixture in Gillingham before the end of the season.

10 players from the U11/U13 and U15 squads of ESJBA travelled to Gillingham to play a return match against Medway BA.  For a couple of players (Alistair Soave and Ryan Turner) it was their first outing for East Sussex but they, and the others, all handled the experience with great enthusiasm and team spirit, with some great games for parents to enjoy from the viewing gallery!  Final results (see below) went different ways for the various age groups but overall ESJBA took the match 21-10.  Thanks to Medway for their great hospitality, well done to all the players, a fixture which we would hope to repeat next season. 

Singles

U11 ESJBA 7 – 1 Medway       U13 ESJBA 3 – 5 Medway       U15 ESJBA 4 – 4 Medway

Doubles

Mixed ages ESJBA 7 – 0 Medway

22 players from the U15 and U17 squads of ESJBA and Orpington Badminton club played an afternoon of great badminton. The match was played in a very friendly and competitive atmosphere with some really great games for parents and coaches to enjoy. Final results went different ways for the two age groups with the U15’s results going in the favour of the home team and the U17 results going in favour of the lads who travelled from Orpington. Well done to all, a great fixture which we would hope to repeat next season.

Singles

U17 ESJBA 3 – 5 Orpington U15 ESJBA 11 – 3 Orpington

Doubles

U17 ESJBA 1 – 3 Orpington U15 ESJBA 5 – 3 Orpington

On Saturday 20th March East Sussex’s U16 squad players turned in another winningperformance in their first away fixture of the 2009/10 seasonat the Medway Badminton Club in Gillingham. Nine players agreed to play -Matthew Mundroina,Toby Spillard, Jack Prince, Alistair Middlemiss, Joseph Large, Mark Lee-Falcon, Jordan Medcraft-Colman, Oliver Nelson-Dummett and Matthew Bilton.

The Medway club is a dedicated badminton facility with 4 courts, refreshment area andviewing gallery/bar. The hosts were well organised, providing teas & coffees for parents, a tea for the players and some competitive matches. Mostplayersplayed 2 singles and 4 doublesganes, with the overall result going to East Sussex 24-9.

Well done to all those mentioned, a big thank to the parents who vounteered to drive to Gillingham and to our hosts for organisingthe fixture and providing such great hospitality.

30 players from the U11, U15 and U17 squads of ESJBA and Hildenborough Badminton club played an
afternoon of great badminton with many close matches despite the final results turning out as aconvincing
victory for the KENT club. Well doneto all those who played and to all the East Sussex playerswho
kept playing til the end despite the game tally/score. A return match is planned for Sat 19th Feb AWAY
at Sevenoaks, perhaps East Sussex can seek to even the scores!! Match results below:-

It ended up a close run affair with the last game deciding whether the match would bewon by East Sussex or drawn by Hildenborough. In the end East Sussex won the overall games tally 13 -11. The East Sussex U16 squad proved too strong for Hildenborough on the day winning 11-1.

The U13 result was a little moreeven with Hildenborough winning 4-2 and the U11 players hada tough but enjoyable first outinglosing 6-0.

This was a first match fixture for the U13 and U11’s, so a well done to them and to all that competed.