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Hertfordshire Junior Badminton Association

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Last Updated: 30th April 2019

Latest News (Archived - 2008-9)

The latest news page from last season has now been archived. To view it please click HERE

North Herts triumph again!!!!
[posted 11/6/09]

Amongst a dozen or so other sports, which were played over the weekend of the 9th/10th May, the U12 Badminton event, was once again, an integral part of the Herts Youth Games.

A bunch of intrepid coaches, who had been training their teams for weeks and months beforehand, brought their teams along to do battle in the Badminton Hall at Herts Sports village.

Eight county districts managed to field a team, each district playing one another in boys and girls singles, doubles and one mixed game, The standard of badminton was a credit to all those hard working children (and coaches).

Once again North Herts came out on top, with Hertsmere collecting the silver medals and Three Rivers the bronze. Well done to everyone involved!

A fuller report will appear in the HSBA newsletter.

North Herts - Winners Hertsmere - Runners Up

North Herts - Winners

Hertsmere - Runners Up

[Submitted by Barbara Lewczynska]
2008/9 HSBA JUNIOR LEAGUE RESULTS
[posted 11/6/09 / updated with corrected positions 25/6/09]

League 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
U13 Boys Comets Swifts Chauncy Eagles
U13 Girls Swifts St Abbotts Queenswood  
U15 Boys A St Abbotts Swifts Hawks All Saints Scobe
U15 Boys B Comets Swift Harriers Eagles Mount Grace
U15 Girls Swift Harriers Queenswood Watford Girls  
U15 Medley A St Abbotts B.Stortford Dane End  
U15 Medley B All Saints Swift Harriers Mount Grace  
U18 Boys St Abbotts Swifts B.Stortford  
U18 Girls Watford (=1) Queenswood (=1) St Abbotts (=1)  
U18 Medley Swifts St Abbotts All Saints  
[Submitted by Geoff Daniels]
Inter Counties Tournament 2009 - The Year of the Drum!
[posted 7/5/09 / updated with additional photos 11/6/09]

ICT Team 2009

ICT Team 2009

Thursday April 16th until Sunday April 19th at Nottingham University. Another 4 days of intense badminton for the U17 ICT team and another run of sleepless nights for Tony deciding how to counteract the opposition’s strengths in the matches ahead.

Our captains were Scott Williams and Laura Bygrave and every member of the team had a role to play to help in the smooth running of the whole adventure.

‘Clothing’ was given to Elliott Miles who got off to a good start with the team turned out in almost matching shirts for the first few matches. But when the rest of the team could not co-ordinate with Elliott’s individual taste in colours the captains had to complete the task. As for ensuring each player started and left with a tracksuit, that went sadly wrong as Helena went home with 2 and Ryan with none.

The much appreciated ‘water bottles’ task was carried out by Ying Yi Tee and Alex English who made sure that each player had a drink during their time on court. I’m sure the other team members didn’t really mean to take advantage!

Helena Lewczynska was ‘cheerleader’ which gave her the opportunity to make lots of noise in support of any Herts player on court. She was assisted by all the Herts players, management and parents and, of course, the drum.

Our ‘reporter’ was Ryan McCarthy who, after a shaky start on the first day, warmed to the task and kept us entertained at suppertime with a report on the days activities including the gossip.

‘Time keeper’ was always going to be a challenging task for Andrei Donko. He tried hard and almost succeeded in getting the players to be in the right place at the right time. However, things seemed to flow better when Scott and Laura were there to give Andrei a helping hand.

Matt McCloskey and Emily Westwood were our ‘scorers’ who ensured a player was always available to score each game. This was a job well done, particularly by Emily who displayed her great skills at delegating.

At suppertime captains Scott and Laura announced their Player of the Day. On Thursday this title went to Alex, on Friday it was Ryan, on Saturday Andrei and on Sunday the title went to Helena. Their Player of the Tournament went to Emily who was awarded the Burger King Crown. Our thanks go to Scott for organising the hoodies. We must also congratulate Scott for being the only male member of the team not to pay a visit to Tracy the Physio during the 4 days.

Our thanks go to Hitesh for his coaching, his drumbeat for the team warm up and his vocal support. We all hope your voice has made a full recovery. And many, many thanks to Bob the Driver (can he drive it? Yes he can) and the Habs minibus. We enjoyed our tour of Nottingham on the way there, until Hitesh got control of the sat-nav. And there’s a roundabout just outside the university entrance that we got to know quite well!

And Tony the Tiger? He’s a pussy cat really.

There were 40 counties taking part in this year’s ICT and Herts were seeded 6th. On the first day we played 3 matches beating Devon 10-0, Durham 9-1 and Sussex 9-1. This meant we were now playing for a place in the top 20. On Friday the team had a good start beating Glos 8-2. Then a very exciting match against Ulster ending in a 5-5 draw, with Herts winning on games 13-11. Our 3rd match that day was a win over Warwicks 6-4. On Saturday morning our first defeat of the tournament losing 4-6 to Notts. We were now in a group playing for final positions 5th to 8th. On Saturday afternoon Herts beat Avon 6-4 and Essex 6-4 and then it was time for the disco.

So it was now the last day, Sunday morning, and with the excitement of Saturday evening’s disco, which somehow included Ryan and a table, now all in the past, the team were ready bright and early for their last match. It was decision time and I have to thank Phil Westwood for the following description of that final morning.

Going into the final match Avon, Cheshire and Herts would occupy 5th, 6th and 7th places, but the order was wide open. Herts were in the driving seat having beaten both Avon and Essex, but defeat by Cheshire would see us 7th. And it was a bad start. Cheshire out-guessed us, not fielding the team as we had thought. They had also taken a liberty with the seeding in their boys pairs, but as Tony had done something similar on several occasions we couldn't really complain. Helena and Emily duly picked-up both Girls' Singles and - with Laura (another gamble) and Ying respectively - both Doubles. Four bankers; but where was the fifth win to come from?

Ryan and Alex at 2nd Mixed had been the aim, and they had so nearly got it: losing by just 3 points in the third end. No shame on them. So 2 down - then 2-all with the girls' singles, then 2-4 after the boys' singles; Ryan had faced Matt Nottingham which wasn't in the plan. Another chance gone.

The girls' doubles pulled it back to 4-4, but two pretty strong boys pairs now stood in the way of 'our' fifth place. And we had already played our 'Joker'; Ryan was now a spectator. Matt and Scott did their best but George Li and Adam Dolman at No.2 were too strong, probably stronger than the first pair. But was this an outside chance for Andrei and Elliott at No.1? It didn't look like it, when they lost the first end, and their previous games together had not inspired confidence. Herts were 4-5 down, 1 game down, and on the edge.

But from somewhere Andrei and Elliott raised their game and took the second, only to fall behind in the third, and once again all seemed lost. Yet the cauldron of pressure that is the final day at ICT, finally told. In sight of the post, Cheshire's less experienced player went to pieces and conceded five points in a row, and victory and fifth place overall to Herts … just! At 5-matches all, 11-games all, and 271 points to 256, Herts had stolen it by just 15 points. And that was the thing with this team. Over the four days everyone had at least one 'unlikely' win that contributed to a victory for the team.

I have been there when stronger teams have done better, but they were expected to do better. In this one everyone raised their game and bearing in mind the uncertainty and near chaos in the preceding weeks (at one point we had only three girls committed to go) the team surpassed expectations and made it one of the most enjoyable I've been to.

A week earlier the team had faced unexpected calamity at the Shires League Final, dashing their hopes. But there had been no moans, no self-pity, they had risen to the challenge, and taken more games than their opponents in all three matches, losing only by walk-overs conceded due to injury. They came last but still did not dwell on it. They went home happy in the knowledge that they were much better. And at ICT they were rewarded, twice coming back from the dead to claim a well-deserved 5th place. Truly treating ‘those two imposters just the same.’

Thanks to Phil for his input. And well done to each and every member of the Herts team who worked so hard. You well deserved the 5th place medals and the ESBA trophy, even though the organisers forgot to present it to us at the ceremony! The top 4 places in the whole ICT event went to 1. Surrey, 2. Yorks, 3. Hants, 4. Notts, with Yorkshire finally knocked from the top position which they have occupied for the last 10 years.

ICT Team 2009 ICT Team 2009

The pictures below, and others, can be obtained from Alan Spink at Action Photography. The gallery can be accessed by clicking here

ICT Team Captains 2009 ICT Team 2009
[Submitted by Pat Walker]
U12s off to a flying start!
[posted 19/03/09]

An U12 Team of 3 boys and 3 girls took part in an U12 Regional Tournament recently and had convincing wins over the three other teams who entered.

Herts beat Cambridgeshire 9 - 0, Norfolk 8 - 1 and Suffolk 7 - 2. Although these teams are not traditionally very strong it was, nevertheless, an excellent result and gave the players the opportunity of playing together as a team. We hope that they will build on this for the future.

U12 Regional Tournament Winners 2009

U12 Regional Tournament Winners 2009

[Submitted by Marion Conway]
U17's Shine at RIO!
[posted 08/02/09]

U17 RIO Team 2008

(Part of) The U17 RIO Team 2008

The weekend of the 17th/18th January was the U17s annual trip to RIO. This is the invitation tournament hosted by Yorkshire and held at the Railway Institute in York.

It was an early start on Saturday morning, meeting at Stevenage in time for the 6.50am train. In true Westwood tradition Emily was the last to arrive and we were on our way enjoying the relaxing 2 hour train journey.

We arrived at the sports hall in plenty of time for a good warm up in preparation for a long day’s play. It was about this time that Elliott remembered his shorts were on the radiator at home.

Three matches later and the team were enjoying the early evening fresh air on the walk to the Wheatlands Lodge Hotel for a roast beef dinner. Then it was disco time where the heat proved too much for Elliott’s shirt. Ryan’s hot moves impressed Sophie from Yorkshire and Emily from Bucks, but that may be just rumour.

While most of us settled down for a good night’s sleep Ryan helped Andrei reconstruct his collapsed bed.

Sunday morning and up at 7.30 when Dan and Elliott had to shower in the dark and Ying took the fast and unorthodox descent from the top bunk. Isabelle displayed an accuracy in throwing involving tissues, milk, an open window and Lothian.

Back to the sports hall for 2 more matches and Scott lead the team in some new chanting compositions. ‘Faaaarsiani’, ‘Yingyitee, Yingyitee’, ‘Dan, Dan, Superdan. If he can’t do it no-one can’, He’s big, he’s red, his feet stick out the bed – McCarthy!’ and the classic ‘Tony - the tiger’ to name but a few.

After the badminton came the presentations when Elliott received a nomination for the ‘style’ award (or was it lack of) and both Elliott and Andrei received nominations for good sportsmanship.

Then it was time for showers and the team waited patiently for Laura to eventually emerge from the changing rooms with the scars on her finger from an unfortunate encounter with her hair straighteners.

All too soon we were on the train heading back to Stevenage. While Matt tried in vain to quietly enjoy some highly dubious reading material, Dan practiced his on phone heavy breathing. This may or may not have impressed Helena.

And Daniella? Thank goodness for some sanity in the team. Or did I miss something?

And now the badminton.

There were 8 strong counties taking part in RIO and the Herts team all had to play some very hard games. They all rose to the occasion.

Our first match was against Lancashire which was a nail-biting 8-7 win to Herts. Then another win for Herts 11-4 against Bucks. The 3rd match on the Saturday was against the number 1 seeds Yorkshire who won 10-5. Herts games won were 2 boys singles, 2 girls singles and one boys doubles and those 5 games gave Herts the best score against Yorks of the tournament. The end of the first days play and Herts were in the top 4. Sunday morning’s match was against the number 2 seeds Surrey where the Herts girls managed a clean sweep with all 3 singles and all 3 doubles but the Surrey boys were too strong and Surrey won the match 9-6. Sunday afternoon and Herts beat Notts 10-5 (for score sheets, click the county name).

The final result Yorks 1st, Surrey 2nd and Herts 3rd.

The Herts team:
Matt McCloskey (capt), Andrei Donko, Dan Hatt, Ryan McCarthy, Elliott Miles and Scott Williams.
Ying Yi Tee (capt), Laura Bygrave, Daniella Farsiani, Helena Lewczynska, Isabelle Sadler and Emily Westwood.

Tony, Colin and I would like to thank each and every member of the team for making our weekend so enjoyable.

[Submitted by Pat Walker]
Further successes for U13 Squad Players!
[posted 10/01/09]

Philippa English and Cayleigh Bambrick played Eleanor Fitton and Zoe Taylor in an all Herts final in the BE U13 Bronze Tournament at Stevenage and came out eventual winners in a won a well fought final.

Philippa had earlier won the Bronze singles. Well done Herts girls.

BE Herts U13 Tournament Finalists Dec 7th 2008

BE Herts U13 Tournament Finalists Dec 7th 2008

[Submitted by Marion Conway]
Depleted U15's beat Oxfordshire!
[posted 10/01/09]

Under 15's massive win against Oxfordshire friendly with our mostly second team players. This was played on sunday 14th December at Abbingdon, Oxford. The selected boys were William Moss, Steven Barnes, Michael Peak, Edmar Thompson, Kieran Redburn and William Belfield and the girls were Kate Sellars, Pui Yi Tam, Kirstey Southey, Hannah McLaren and Reena Tarkhala. Unfortunately Jessie Northen missed out due to illness over the weekend.

Hertfordshire played a rubber of 36 matches shires style whereby every body had to play singles, level doubles and mixed matches all were played with best of three matches to 21 points. The win was 34 Games to 2 Games. Out of two games we lost one was conceded due to injury at the end and the other one was so close went upto three games to setting in each game. We would like to thanks Oxfordshire for their hospitality at their Venue.

U15 Friendly v Oxfordshire

U15 Friendly v Oxfordshire

[Submitted by Hitesh Shah]
U15's win through to finals!
[posted 02/12/08]

Hertfordshire Under 15 played regional round for Badminton England inter counties Team Challege at Brandon in Suffolk on Saturday November 22nd 2008. The selected players were Daniel Hatt, Howard Stobo, Conor Bambrick, Alex English, Georgia Pittson, Hannah McLaren and Kirsty Southey. The matches that were played against Northampton, Suffolk, Bedford, Norfolk and Essex. For every Match Six players were selected three boys and three girls they all had to play two games each, one of them was mixed and the other one either singles or level doubles, the match was for seven games with each counties.

Northampton we won 5:2, Suffolk we won 6:1, Bedfordshire we won 4:3, Norfolk we won 6:1 and finally with Essex we won 4:3

All the selected players performed so well and played to their utmost best, John Stobo and Hitesh Shah were very pleased to see good team perfomance and now Hertforshire Under 15 are through to the FINALS of the National Team Challenge.

Herts U15 Inter-counties Team November 2008

Herts U15 Inter-counties Team November 2008

[Submitted by Hitesh Shah]
Herts success in Brunel!
[posted 30/11/08]

Scott Williams and Andrei Donko both reached the semi finals of the U17 Silver tournament in Brunel this weekend.

Scott Williams & Andrei Donko at the Brunel U17 Silver Tournament 2008

Scott Williams & Andrei Donko at the Brunel U17 Silver Tournament 2008

[Submitted by Laszlo Donko]
Keya Patani success in North Staffs!
[posted 13/11/08]

Keya Patani (part of the Herts U11 Development Squad) took part in the North Staffordshire Yehlex Junior Jubilee Singles Tournament and was Winner in the Under 9 category and Runner-Up in the Under 11 category. Keya is 2nd from left in the photo.

North Staffordshire Yehlex Junior Jubilee Singles Tournament 2008

Keya Patani in the North Staffordshire Yehlex Junior Jubilee Singles Tournament 2008

[Submitted by Amit Patani]
U13s continue their winning ways!
[posted 30/10/08]

Once again the U13s had a decisive win in a Shires League match. This was with a team with five players, including one U11, making their debut in the Shires League. All played very well and gave us a decisive 17 - 3 win. Sadly Lincs was one girl short so one of our players did not play the full quota of matches.

Thanks to all the Parents who supported us by driving all the way to Lincoln and successfully negotiated the road closures to get there on time.

Herts U13 team v Lincolnshire October 2008

Herts U13 team v Lincolnshire October 2008

[Submitted by Marion Conway]
U13 SQUAD OFF TO A FLYING START!
[posted 15/10/08]

Seven pairs of our U12s took part in the Leicester Invitation Doubles Tournament on Saturday, October 11. As the result of some excellent play four pairs reached the quarter finals, two pairs went on to the Semi finals and Amy George and Izzy Hatt won a close fought Final. Well done all of you!

Herts U12 team for Leicester Doubles Invitation October 2008

Herts U12 team for Leicester Doubles Invitation October 2008

Sunday saw Amy and Izzy in action once again. This time in Norwich in our first Shires League match of the season. The whole team of Anna Collis, Lyall Daniels, Amy George, Izzy Hatt, Mohammed Khaku, David Maughan, Rachel Ng and Matthew Widdicombe all focused on the job in hand and beat Norfolk 20 - 0. A great start to the season. Look out Lincolshire, here we come!

[Submitted by Marion Conway]
Emily strikes Gold in Bristol
[posted 05/09/08]

Emily Westwood gained double Gold for England on Day 3 of the UK School Games at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol.

Some 1500 youngsters from the four Home Nations and eight different sports, had gathered on Thursday 28th August at the Bath Rugby ground for the opening ceremony, to be followed by three days of competition.

Emily beat last year’s finalist, Wales’ Sarah Thomas, in the Singles Semis, then after losing a wayward first set in the Final, recovered to beat Scottish No.1 Kirsty Gilmour, 21-17 in the third.

With Surrey’s Sam Dobson, she also took the Mixed Doubles. In fact England completed a strong all round performance by taking four of the five Golds; Sam, again, the Boys’ Singles and, with Steven Cappleman, the Boys’ Doubles. Scotland’s Kirstys, McGlynn and Gilmour, took the Girls’ Doubles. Emily and Lauren Bromley, reached the Semis, gaining a Bronze.

Ryan McCarthy was also in the England Squad, which also took the Team Cup for most aggregate points over the three days.

Emily Westwood

Emily Westwood

UK School Games

Photo shows UK School Games Medallists

[Submitted by Phil Westwood]



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