A brilliant York 2nds overcame Durham in the first round of the BUCS Badminton Northern Conference Cup and secured their place in the last 16 with a 6-2 win.
It was a superb achievement for the White Rose given that Durham play their trade in the 2nd Division – a league above their York counterparts.
The match began with the singles games, and new player Feeby Pelangi made an explosive debut. She played out a confident game, moving her opponent around the court and displaying a great amount of power smashing from the backline. In the first end Pelangi won 21-8 and in the second she continued to play a consistently strong game securing the end 21-5. York’s second singles players, Victoria Wheeler, also put in an outstanding performance for the York side. Facing strong opposition in the form of Durham’s first player Wheeler showed excellent versatility and used a strong repertoire of shots to outplay her opponent in a tight 21-19 first end win. The second end proved even closer with both players neck and neck throughout the game in the end though Wheeler took the victory for York 23-21.
With a two game advantage it was the turn of the doubles players. Langford and Daly took on Durham’s second pair and the pair worked well, forcing their opponents to the back of the court by clearing and flick serving and then attacking the weak returns. They took the first end 21-18 before continuing on great form to take the second 21-12. Second pair Rogers and Daniel faced Durham’s first pair and despite a good start were overpowered by the stronger Durham players in a 10-21 defeat. In the second end, the pair could not pull back a win for York and lost out again 12-21 leaving the running score 3-1 to York.
In the second round of singles Pelangi continued to dominate against the Durham 1st player taking the first end 21-8 before securing another victory for York in the second end 21-7. Wheeler put in another exceptional performance in her match against the Durham second player to win the first end 21-4. In the second end Durham fought back but still couldn’t overpower Wheeler who secured the end, and an overall win for York, 21-14.
In the doubles Langford and Daly faced the Durham 1st pair. They dominated in the first end working perfectly together to secure a 21-9 victory. However, in the second end Durham regrouped and came back stronger to take the second end 21-17. The match was the only one of the day to be decided in three ends and the scores were very tight but Durham took the victory and the point in the end with a 19-21 win. Second doubles pair Rogers and Daniel faced Durham’s 2nd pair and this time the pair worked better together to win both ends 21-18 and leaving the final score 6-2 to York.
The win sees the ladies 2nd team progress to the final 16 of the cup where they will face strong competition in the form of undefeated 2nd division team UCLAN 1sts.