Varsity Report 2012
Men's Varsity Report
This year saw mixed Varsity results with the men's 1st team taking a 7th straight victory, the men's 2nd team losing by just one game and the men's 3rd team suffering a 4-11 defeat.
Cambridge took an early lead, winning 10 of the 12 men's 2nd and 3rd team singles matches. Even the men's 1st team - aiming for somewhat optimistic whitewash - lost their first match when Josh Bappoo was defeated in a closely fought affair late in the third set. Men's 1st team players, Mike Senior and 'The Great Dane' Jakob Pethick both won tight matches before the nerves were eased with straightforward victories for Chris Lim, Alistair Reed and James Buffham, leading to an overall win for the 1st team.
Perhaps the best match of the tournament came courtesy of the men's 2nd team's final match. Tied at seven games apiece tension was high and sadly Tim Barendt and Nattapong Paiboonvorachat were edged out by just two points in the third game, giving Cambridge men's 2nd team the victory.
Women's Varsity Report
The women's badminton 1st and 2nd teams both consolidated their wins last year over Cambridge with even more convincing wins this year. Despite injury and other last minute problems playing havoc with the women's first team, and despite missing our number 1 seeded player, Kathryn Hunt, Simone Finkmann, Sarah Finch, Abbie Scarlett, Camilla Yang and Rachel Kenny still beat the Cambridge team, who play in the premier division, by a comfortable margin of 9-6. Particular congratulations goes to Kathryn Hunt and Abbie Scarlett who were paired together the day before our Varsity match and who still managed to win one of their doubles games and play exceptional badminton throughout.
The women's second team of Nancy Payne, Alina Gerasimenko, Clara Ng, Charlie Cutler, Laura McLaren, Sarah Payne and Beth Lawson posted their best ever win by beating the Cambridge team 13-2 in a supreme win. For many of the team, this was their first Varsity, and yet nerves appeared non-existent as the team cruised to an easy win, losing only one singles and one doubles game between them.
This has been the best ever collective result for the women's team and is a credit to their hard work and dedication throughout the year.