THE MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY men’s badminton 1st team produced an impressive display as they trounced local rivals Liverpool 8-0 at the Armitage Centre. With only four players available for the visitors two of the eight scheduled matches were conceded but in the six that were played, Manchester were too strong for their opponents.
First up in the singles was left-hander Ben Doleman who was straight into his stride against Liverpool’s Philip Welch. Doleman had his opponent moving to all four corners of the court as he cruised to a 21-14, 21-8 victory.
STRETCH…Manchester dismissed their local rivals with ease
Robbie Smith then faced Liverpool’s Frank Teichmann in what proved to be the closest match of the afternoon. Smith had the better of the opening exchanges with some crafted drop shots seeing him into an early lead. Teichmann did come back into the game as he utilised his tall frame to find some good rhythm with his smashes. However, Smith’s superior net play and ability to keep the shuttle low to limit Teichmann’s opportunities to smash saw him take a tight first game 22-20. In the second game Smith continued to impress with some accurate shots. Both players made some errors towards the end of the match and vented their frustrations in numerous vocal outbursts before Smith was victorious 21-15 to take the match 2-0.
In the first of the reverse matches Ben Doleman played Teichmann and picked up from where he left off against Welch, taking the first game 21-15. Doleman had the physical and mental edge over his opponent throughout the match. His agile footwork and cool demeanour were in stark contrast to Teichmann who by this stage was becoming more frustrated and was also hampered by a leg injury after a nasty fall. Doleman took the match 2-0 following a second game victory, 21-14.
Robbie Smith was back on court to play Philip Welch in the final singles contest of the day and the match was a scrappy affair with both players making several errors as the fatigue of an afternoon’s play set in. Smith was dictating most of the play from the centre of the court and this enabled him to make Welch work for every point. Smith won 21-13, 21-14 and in doing so wrapped up a clean sweep for Manchester in the singles as Liverpool finished without winning a single game.
In the doubles matches Jamie Bonsels and Adam Southgate were paired up against Liverpool’s Sean Crossman and Rosh Pan. The match started evenly with both pairs playing reasonably defensively and looking to force the opposition into errors. However, as the match went on the Manchester pair began to show their class as they asserted their authority on the game. A combination of tight net play and superb court awareness from Bonsels, and some aggressive baseline play from Southgate, saw Manchester win the match 21-11, 21-9. This was merely a warm-up for Bonsels who, as the player ranked fifth in England, headed straight to Glasgow after the game to compete in the 2009 Scottish International Championships.
The second doubles match saw Nick Ardern and Franklin Lin take on the same Liverpool pairing of Crossman and Pan. Early on it was evident the Manchester pair had spent relatively little playing time together but as the match progressed their understanding grew stronger. Both Ardern and Lin were continually dispatching some ineffective mid-court returns as Manchester eventually ran out 21-9, 21-18 winners to complete an 8-0 whitewash over their north-west rivals.
Club President Mark Wood hopes that this win will provide a springboard for the team. “The men’s 1sts have had a terrible run of results but hopefully with another two home fixtures coming up we can get good run going.” Manchester though can take enormous confidence from this performance and they should be able to lift themselves off the bottom of the BUCS Northern Conference Men’s 1A Division.
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