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Photos: Jess Paisley
Yesterday saw a nail-bitingly close match between York’s women’s 1st badminton team and a strong Newcastle side, resulting in a 4-4 draw.
The opening matches were singles, played by captain Rachael Farrington and Dani Farsiani. Farrington was outplayed by a consistent opponent, winning her points mainly from Newcastle’s unforced errors. She played well but wasn’t able to secure the win, with a final score of 12-21, 8-21.
Farsiani was beaten 17-21 in the first set but did not allow this to affect her play. She fought hard, unwilling to give Newcastle another set. With productive movement around the court, Farsiani controlled her shots and won the next two sets convincingly 21-15 and 21-11 respectively.
Next came the doubles matches with Alison Canon and Lucy Travers playing as pair 1 and Beth Cowell and Cass Brown pair 2. Canon and Travers had a solid win against the Newcastle pair winning 21-9 and 21-13 while Cowell and Brown were unfortunate. They set off to a good start winning 21-19 but seemed to lose concentration in their second set, losing 6-21. In a game that seemed like it could lean either way, a win would have helped to secure York’s chance of victory. In the final set the girls fought harder but were narrowly beaten 17-21, tying the overall score at 2-2.
The singles were to follow and Farsiani took on Jess Wilkins, easily Newcastle’s best player. Farsiani started the match confidently with some well placed smashes securing her points but was unable to win the match with a final score of 11-21, 12-21.
Farrington played her final match of the afternoon and won her first set convincingly 21-11. With a very even score all the way through, spectators seemed unable to determine who would be the victor. This was a pivotal match for York as the overall score was 2-3 and York needed the win to
bring them back up to a draw. Farrington did not disappoint. After a long match made up of lengthy rallies and lots of movement across the court, Farrington managed to pull away from Chloe Yim and find herself a clear 2 points ahead. The final score was 21-11, 25-23.
Last to play were the final doubles matches. Canon and Travers won their first set quickly, allowing Newcastle 11 points. The two teams were evenly matched and pursued in long rallies, desperate to collect points but York were defeated in the second set 17-21. The final set of the game was to be the decider and York struggled. A few careless errors lost them the match with an end score of 21-11, 17-21,17-21.
The final match of the afternoon was to determine a loss or a draw for York and it was on the shoulders of Brown and Cowell. They made York proud giving the visitors a mere 4 points in the first set. York had the advantage with many a cheering spectator and won convincingly 13-21, finishing the day on a draw.
Farrington commented: “I’m really proud of the girls today and the fact that they have really fought for every point. This was a match against a team who have come down from the league above us and we’ve played really well. Had one or two games ended a little differently, I feel we could have won it. Very happy.”