Badminton firsts held in tight encounter
Photo: Sam Newsome
YORK 4
SHEFFIELD 4
York’s Badminton firsts fought their way to a 4-4 draw against Sheffield University earlier today. It was not a bad result for a side that has suffered so far this season; plagued by injuries, including their number two seed singles player Nut Tritasavit being taken out by swine flu, they have been unable to regularly field a full strength side. It was always going to be a tough ask against today’s opposition, who are sat well above York in second place in the league. Yet a good team performance allowed them to secure a share of the points leaving captain James Hor happy enough with the result.
The first singles games both went as expected. York’s number one pick Patrick Clarke did well to fight off a spirited challenge from Sheffield’s number two, Richard Lester; winning 21 – 15, 22 – 24, 21 – 10. The fully recovered Tritasavit put up a valiant effort against Sheffield’s impressive Joose Tolonen, but went on to lose 14 – 21, 13 – 21. Therefore, after the first round of singles games, the score was tied at 1 – 1 in the best of 8 battle, and it was a fair reflection on the performances of each side.
Newly promoted to Northern Conference 1A, the men’s team had a difficult start with two losses. However one defeat in their last four suggests they are adapting to the new challenge. Photograph Sam Newsome.
The doubles games followed a similar pattern. Tom Gattenby and Ricky Kanabar combined nicely to see off Andy Storey and Laurence Lee, performing clinically in the second game of their match to win 22 – 20, 21 – 12. Gattenby and Kanabar communicated well throughout the match, and despite the closeness of the first game always looked like coming through victorious. Captain Hor and James Davies were less successful in their game. They fought very hard and were within touching distance of their opposition in both games, eventually losing 18 – 21, 18 – 21.
At the halfway stage of the match the game was therefore poised at 2 – 2, and it was anyone’s guess who was going to snatch victory. Number two pick Tritasavit then took on Lester, who had impressed in his opener, but it was Tritasavit who took the plaudits battling past his opponent to win 21 – 14, 19 – 21, 24 – 22. Tritasavit played some particularly nice shots in his victory, appearing to outclass his opponent throughout many of the rallies.
Patrick Clarke was not able to grab York’s fourth point as he slipped to a 14 – 21, 19 – 21 loss to Tolonen. Clarke seemed to be frustrated with his own performance, often questioning as to why he’d just missed a shot or berating himself for some misdemeanour. At one point his racket was thrown nearly to the roof of the sports hall in a more subdued version of McEnroe-esque frustration. At the end of his match the game was tied at 3 – 3 and the final outcome was to hinge on the result of the doubles matches.
The team sit fifth in the league, one place above relegation but with a game in hand on the teams above them. They are two points behind Manchester, who they play next week in what is sure to be a highly competitive fixture. Photograph Sam Newsome.
Gattenby and Kanabar took the honour of being the only players on the York side to win both their matches as they overcame their first pick opponents, Sheffield captain Rich Grainger and colleague Andy Williams. Once again Hor and Davies were not able to taste victory but the games were tightly fought, going down 24 – 22, 18 – 21, 19 – 21. A draw was probably a fair result as both sides seemed to be on an equal playing field, something which proves that York should be much higher than their current fifth position in the table. Sheffield’s Joose Tolonen was mightily impressive but for the home side the best performances were those of Gattenby and Kanabar. The side will be berating the bad luck they’ve endured this year and will hope for an upturn in results towards the end of the season.
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Those players aren’t from York, you took photos of the wrong team.
You can see York players in the background
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