Hertfordshire Over 55’s – 13th and 14th January 2019 at Milton Keynes
The Masters’ County Challenge is organised by Badminton England. It is a one off event which takes place every year during a single weekend of competition in January and is split across five different venues with over 125 county teams and 1400 players competing in age groups from over 40 to over 70 in five year age bands. Each age group is split into different divisions with promotion and relegation between the divisions each year.
Last year, the O55s had a great series of results to win division 1A and gained promotion to Premier, and so this year we were playing against all the strongest county teams in the country in our age group. There are seven teams in Premier, giving us six matches over the weekend – this was going to be hard work! Also, as there are divisions 1A and 1B, the bottom two teams in Premier are relegated each year.
The squad for the weekend was:
Mens: Derek Cox, Nick Goode, Tim Jalland, Kevin Maughan, Tim Moore
Ladies: Sandra Ingham, Kim Maughan, Kiyoiko Pullen, Linda Riley, Alison Shanks
The draw meant that we had four matches on the Saturday, but only two on the Sunday. First up was Avon, who was on our ‘possible hit list’ as one of the less strong counties, although they do have the current national mixed champion. Great wins by our ladies and men’s pairs in the first two games set us up well, and sharing the mixed gave us a well-deserved 3 – 1 victory.
Hardly time to sit down and we were on again, against Sussex. Sussex ladies are very strong, having the current national singles champion, and although our ladies fought well, we went 0-1 down. The men’s doubles went our way and left the mixed to decide the match. We were just pipped 23-21 in the third set at top mixed, so it all depended on a nail biting 2nd mixed game, which we managed to hold on to 21-17 in the third set. A 2-2 draw on games, 5 – 5 on ends, but a 182-181 point’s loss – however, points would only matter if we ended up with the same league points at the end of the weekend, so a good result.
Next was Yorkshire, a potential winning side, and just too strong for us, and we went down 3-1, only picking up top mixed.
Lancashire was our last Saturday game and they had won all matches so far, so another potential winner. We started with an amazing ladies doubles win, followed with an equally impressive men’s doubles win! Top mixed was a tense affair, but in the end we lost 23-21, 21-18 and 2nd mixed also went to Lancs, but a great draw against a really strong county (academic, but we beat them on points!)
So we finished the day with four points – a win, two draws and a loss – an excellent start, but not quite good enough to ensure safety from relegation, so more hard work required on the Sunday!
Saturday evening was a brilliant team bonding affair with an excellent Turkish meal and a lot of fun and a moderate (!) amount of alcohol. Thanks to Tim M and TripAdvisor and Derek (our drinks advisor)!
Sunday morning we had the luxury of an 11:30 start against Cheshire, a bit of an unknown for us. The late start meant extra time in bed, but had the disadvantage of playing a team already warmed up in an earlier match to get rid of the stiff muscles. In the end, our men’s and ladies doubles pairs pulled us through again, winning both for a 2-2 draw.
Final match of the weekend was our old adversaries Essex, and working through all the permutations (thanks Sandra!), it looked as though a win or a draw would see us safe. Easier said than done as we had lost both matches against them during the season. First on was the ladies doubles against an ex-national champion. Essex just scraped through with our players making it really difficult for them. Next was the men’s doubles and Nick and Tim J made short work of the Essex pair – 1-1, so all down to the mixed! The first end of the top mixed went to plan, but then a blip as we lost the second end quite easily, as all the running over the weekend took its toll. A final effort for the last end saw us win, so with us losing the 2nd mixed a 2-2 draw – enough for safety!
The result and final standings can be followed with this link (from around 25/01/19) – BADMINTON England – Masters County Challenge 2018 – O55s
Overall an excellent weekend of badminton, and although we came 5th, the 55s have never been in the Premier division before and we were only beaten by one team all weekend! I have to thank all of the squad for making the weekend such fun and a success and helping out with the management and organisation. Everyone played their part, and everyone won at least one game (and all games were crucial!) but I should make special mention of Nick, being unbeaten all weekend. I also need to thank Alison for travelling as a very late reserve, Tim M for organising the hotel and meal and Tim J for the Saturday night education!