The men’s badminton second team came from behind to record a dramatic victory and ensure York took all the points from badminton on the first day.
With the men’s and women’s firsts comfortably beating their Lancaster opponents, all the focus fell upon John Sinclair and his seven teammates.
They started very slowly, the first pair of Sinclair and Jinglun Tang losing both games to lose their first match without the need to go to a decider. However, the second pairing of Chiuy Tang and Stephen Hallett, both presidents of the club, led by example and won their opening match 21-18 and 21-16.
However, Sinclair and Jinglun Tang then lost their second successive game 2-0 and the third pairing of Jonny Tait and Micky Murtagh also lost, despite putting up a tough fight in the second game, eventually losing 2-1.
At this point with York 3-1 down overall, Sinclair told Vision that “it is annoying when you know you should be beating them.”
It was at this point that the tide started to turn; Chiuy Tang and Hallett came from behind to beat their red rose opponents 2-1 in incredibly tight circumstances.
That made the scores 3-2, and the third pairing soon levelled proceedings in fantastic circumstances, also coming from behind to win their third game 21-14. Three games apiece, and the noisy Lancaster fans were starting to sense that the tide was truly turning in the sports hall.
Sinclair and Jinglun Tang then finally got the win they deserved, winning their final game comfortably 22-20 and 21-19, putting York in the lead.
The stage was set for a cracking finale, with two matches left. If York won one, they would win the overall tie, while Lancaster had to win both to claim victory.
Black and Gold sealed the win through Chiuy Tang and Hallett, who comfortably ensured three wins out of their three games. The gloss was put on a fantastic York display by the third pairing of Tait and Murtagh who beat Lancaster’s first pairing by 2 games to 1, leaving the final score 6-3 to York, the two points on offer in the bag.
Sinclair said afterwards that their epic comeback was “typical of the B team. It’s all thanks to Ste and Chiuy, they played brilliantly to take all three games. We never get a clean win, but we’re always there.”