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Photos: Oona Venermo
York women’s 2nds suffered an agonising BUCS Cup defeat to Durham 2nds as the away side won on a points countback.
The scores were tied at 4-4 after York made a tremendous comeback from 4-2 down, winning the final two doubles matches.
However, their efforts were in vain as Durham had a superior points tally – 323 to York’s 228 – meaning York were knocked out.
Meanwhile, the first team were given a walkover victory after their opponents, Teesside 2nds, failed to turn up for the match.
Despite the second team defeat, York can take great heart from their performance against a side a division higher than themselves, and will see this as a platform to build a successful league campaign.
The day didn’t start especially well for the home side, as Durham won both of the opening singles matches 2-0.
York’s Anais Pedica was beaten 21-5 and 21-9 by Durham’s Jenny Salisbury, who exhibited a masterclass of badminton all afternoon. On the other court, Heather Robertson succumbed 21-5 21-5 to Klara Kiran.
The defeats seemed to galvanise York, who fought back to level the match at 2-2 after the doubles matches.
Charlie Parker and Blonnie Walsh set the ball rolling with a convincing 21-11, 21-15 win over the Durham pair. The York players displayed fantastic reactions and ability at the net, forcing errors from their opponents time and again.
It was a closer affair on the adjacent court as Lauren Cain and Sarah Thomas triumphed 21-10, 19-21, 21-11. Despite losing the second game by the tiniest of margins, York pulled themselves together in the final game, raced to an early lead and wrapped up the win.
But once again, Durham proved their class in the next two singles matches. Robertson suffered a comprehensive 21-2, 21-0 defeat to Salisbury while Pedica was also beaten 21-10 and 21-4.
At 4-2 down, York knew they had to win twice to have any chance of progressing to the next round. There was nothing to lose.
Cain and Thomas claimed their second victory of the day 21-13, 21-18 thanks to their terrific footwork and reactions, resulting in some hugely entertaining rallies.
The comeback was complete when Parker and Walsh came through in a dramatic match 21-19, 21-16. Walsh in particular scored some incredible smash points from all corners of the court.
But as the two captains calculated the total points won, it became clear that York lost out by around 100 points from the eight matches played.
Afterwards, York captain Lucy Rodgers told Vision: “The team performed better than I thought and I didn’t think it would be that close. Next week we have Hull 1sts in the league which will we will need to win.”