Sunday 2 Feb 2020 saw the first events of this year's handicap tournament take place. The event was staged at Cheshire College South and West (home to both Welsh Row and South Cheshire badminton clubs).
On the day the ladies doubles event was contested by 4 pairs, these can be seen below along with their allocated handicaps:
Symone Dale & Amber Tennant-Fry (+9)
Rachel Wellings & Nicole Schofield (+3)
Ruth Raiswell & Claire Griffin (-8)
Ann Lewis & Katy Brown (+2)
Each pairing played each other in 2 games to 21 with the winner of the most games taking home the title.
Rachel and Nicole managed just 1 victory to finish fourth (losing scores of 19, 17, 12, 16 & 19 indicate that they were very close to having some more to shout about).
Third place went to Ann and Katy who won 2 of their 6 encounters (they missed out by a single point in one of their losses!).
Runners up this season are Symone and Amber who won 4 of their games, who only lost to the eventual winners 20-21 and 18-21.
Retaining their title (and the trophy) are Ruth and Claire who, despite a tough handicap, won 5 of their games.
A fabulous event with so many close games, well played everyone and congratulations to Ruth and Claire.
The mens doubles saw a late withdrawl leaving us with 10 pairs, these were split into 2 groups of 5 with each pair playing the others in their group in 1 game to 21. The overview can be seen below.
Group A:
Dave Lee & Dave Gordon (+1), Won 1 Lost 3
John Hunter & James Burnham (-2), Won 2 Lost 2
Jez Touch & Warren Simpson (+1), Won 4 Lost 0
Ben Huggon & Greg Hulme (+8), Won 2 Lost 2
Paul Wilson & Mark McGlinchey (+3), Won 1 lost 3
Jez/Warren & Ben/Greg progressed to the semi finals (Ben and Greg beat John and James in their group game, hence their progression)
Group B:
Lee Ashworth & James Brown (+5), Won 3 Lost 1
Steve Pickering & Steve Aylott (-9), Won 3 Lost 1
Simon Dyson & Stuart Furber (+1), Won 1 Lost 3
Josh Millington & John Nicholls (+3), Won 0 Lost 4
Carl McGregor-Ogden & Rob Evans (+3), Won 3 Lost 1
With 3 pairs having the same results we had to total the points scored, the result being that Carl/Rob were deemed to have won the group and Steve/Steve came seond. Both pairs progressed to the semi finals.
The first semi saw Jez/Warren take on Steve/Steve. Jez and Warren won comfortably 21-12.
The second semi between Carl/Rob and Ben/Greg saw a victory for Ben/Greg 21-19.
The final between Jez/Warren and Ben/Greg was a tense affair and at 20-20 you could hear a pin drop. A serve into the net however saw Jez and Warren take home the title.
There were so many close games this year, but it is especially gratifying to see the final settled by a single point. Hearty congratulations to our winners, Jez and Warren.
There were no official entries for the ladies singles, but 4 of the ladies present agreed (under some durress!) to play a quick pair of semis and a final so that we could award a title. There was no time for handicapping so all players played off scratch. Rachel Wellings and Nicole Schofield played the final with Nicole winning 21-19. A big thank you to the ladies for taking part and hopefully next season we will see more willing to throw their hat into the ring and give the handicappers something to think about.
The remaining events (Mixed doubles and mens singles) take place at the same venue on 16 Feb. Could all the mens singles players please arrive at the venue at 12:50, and the mixed doubles players do not need to turn up until 2pm.
A big thank you from me to those who assisted with the handicapping this year; Simon Dyson, Brian Horrocks, Carl McGregor-Ogden, Ian Brookhouse and David Sumner (who only turned up because we were in a pub!). The scores this year were so close and this is a result of all of your input.
Tony Marks
Tournament Secretary