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Photos: Oona Venermo
York are through to the last 16 of the Northern Conference Cup after a deserved victory over their counterparts from Teesside
Teesside are struggling in the division below York in the league, and at times it showed. Their day got off to the worst possible start, as they arrived nearly an hour late after arriving at York St John University by mistake.
The final scoreline flattered Teesside, who relied on their one impressive singles player for two of their three victories. It was in the doubles, though, where York pressed home the advantage, winning all four contests in fairly convincing fashion.
After the opening singles the score was tied at 1-1. Baillie Watterson took victory against his opponent 21-10, 21-16. A series of lovely shots sent the Teesside player to all corners of the court and Watterson, after breaking into an early lead, would not relinquish it. His demoralised opponent tried in vain to fight back in the second game, but to no avail.
At the same time, however, Jinglun Tang fell to defeat against Teesside’s strongest player, 13-21, 4-21. The first game was closely fought, but the Teesside player upped his game to take the second, and the match, in style.
Both Watterson and Tang would fall to defeats in the second round of singles later in the day. Watterson’s encounter with the standout man for Teesside was the most entertaining encounter of the day. Both put in sensational performances, though the York man was just outlasted in the end, 14-21, 11-21.
Watterson was forced into all corners of the court by his opponent but fought valiantly, leading to a number of excellent rallies. Unfortunately, the Teesside player’s added finesse saw him come out on top, and the visibly tiring man from York could not pull it back in the second.
On the adjacent court, the closest match of the day saw Tang lose both games in agonising fashion, 19-21, 18-21. It was a to-and-fro contest with a number of exasperatingly close points which went in favour of the visiting player. Had those gone in favour of Tang, then he could easily have been celebrating a close victory, rather than a defeat.
It was in the doubles contest where York ensured progression to the next round. While the singles contests were generally close, Teesside taking them 3-1 overall, the doubles were one-sided in favour of the home team. All four were won in straight games, with the Teesside pairs reaching double figures in just three of the eight games played.
Andy Henderson and Tom Daintly took a 13-1 lead in the second game of their first match and, despite a few unforced errors late on, took the game and match with ease, 21-10, 21-7.
Their second match was a closer affair, but they put in a no nonsense performance to ensure another win. They overcame the Teesside pair thanks to some powerful attacking play, which led to short rallies, the final score being 21-12, 21-11.
York’s other doubles pairing, James Davies and Dan Hirst, found their matches even more straightforward. Though they were a little rusty in the first few points of their opening game, they found a rhythm and ran out comfortable winners, 21-6, 21-4.
Their second match confirmed York’s victory, coming in double-quick time. It was a fairly easy day at the office for Davies and Hirst, taking the second match 21-6, 21-7.
York 1sts, then, have progressed to the last 16 of the conference cup. It was a strong performance, with five comfortable wins, while the defeats the hosts suffered were predominantly much closer.