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Captain Dan Hirst and James Davies earned a last gasp draw for York’s badminton firsts in their opening match of the season. The pair won their doubles match to level the contest with Hull at 4-4 in the final match. Close throughout, neither team was able to establish a grip on the tie with York’s players at times cutting frustrated figures in what was an intense contest from start to finish.
The opening matches foreshadowed much of what was to follow. Some domineering and aggressive strokes from Baillie Watterson saw him take the opening game against Hull’s Davies in a little over ten minutes. While York took the ascendancy in the first singles match, they were under the cosh in the other as Jin Glun Tang struggled to deal with his opponent, going down 13-21 in the opening game. As the players swapped sides there was little change. Watterson wrapped things up against Davies while Tang watched his volley drift out of play to tie things up at one point each.
If the opening matches had offered little indication as to who would come out on top, the doubles proved equally inconclusive. York’s Andy Henderson and Tom Daintly began positively, comfortably winning their opening game 21-14. The other match was a closer affair before Hull edged away to take the opening game from York’s Dan Hirst and James Davies. Despite a resilient effort from the Hull pair, a solid performance from Daintly and Henderson saw them take the second game while Cocksnutt and Green edged out the York pair with a strong finish.
With things level at 2-2 Tang and Watterson re-emerged to lock horns with Davies and Harrison respectively. Despite a disappointing opening match, Tang’s spirited performance nearly saw him come out on top. After narrowly losing the opening game, a series of errors ultimately undid what was a much improved performance. With the score 22-23 to his opponent, Tang’s sprawling dive epitomised the frustration he had endured as he watched the shuttle cock land just out of reach. Things went better for Watterson, beating Harrison 21-17 and 21-13 to set up a grandstand finish.
Despite easing to victory first time around, Henderson and Dainty struggled against the pairing of Cocksnutt and Green. Losing the first game 17-21, things only got worse for the York pair, losing the second 12-21.
With Hull 4-3 up and just one match remaining, the home side’s hopes rested with Dan Hirst and James Davies. Despite losing their opening match, the pair raced to a 21-15 lead in the opening game, before seeing out the tie and taking the second game 21-17 to earn a draw for York.
After the match York Captain Dan Hirst reflected on a positive start to the campaign. “Considering it’s our first game of the season I think it’s pretty good,” he said. “We knew it would be one of the toughest games in the league so we are quite happy. Our next game is away in Leeds which gives us a bit more time to get used to our pairings as most universities have been back longer.”
“Overall I thought it was a very good performance, I’ve got no complaints. I just thought we were a bit unlucky in a few matches.”