Pictures of the winners and runners up from the tournament are now online.
http://pandelon.co.uk/badminton_tournament_2005.xml
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Badminton Tournament Final
The final was about to begin. Nervous with anticipation I took to the court with my partner. Would we win? Could we win? We knew it was going to be tough; our opponents were older than us, and a lot more experienced. Both were previous champions; one of the shield, one of the plate. This was not going to be a walkover.
I had started the day with no expectation of winning; in fact when the day had started I did not even know who my partner was going to be. The seeding and draw was supposed to have taken place on the Thursday before, but one of the players had been forced to pull out unexpectedly, so there was a mad search to try to replace him. Until a replacement had been found the draw could not take place. A replacement was found the next day and the draw took place on the Friday evening. Unfortunately, due to previously made plans I could not attend so I was unaware of the name of my partner. As it happens, he was unaware as well.
The person I was partnered with was another very regular player in the club so I knew him well. Unfortunately, we had never played together particularly well previously, so we had no high hopes.
The match started with a round robin to determine who would play for the shield and who would play for the plate. Each team was to play three matches. Our first match was very close, but ultimately we lost 13-15. the next two matches were both decisive victories (15-7, 15-7).
Once this first round robin was over, it was determined that we had achieved enough points to play for the shield, the top prize. The next round consisted of two round robins, one for the shield and one for the plate. Each team was to play two games. Again we won decisive victories (15-11, 15-7), and were given the entirely unexpected news that we had made to the final. However, we still had to wait to see who we would play.
When the points were finally tallied up, the other teams were so close that it had to come down to point difference, and the pair who won the right to play us was so unexpected that one of the members had already taken a shower thinking that he was out of the match.
And so, it began...
Both teams knew that this was going to be a hard fight, but I was heartened by the fact that when one of the members of the opposite pair had learned that they were to play against us, she had let loose with an unexpected (and very out of character) expletive. I guess she was slightly worried.
I was desperate to win the first game. We were all tired and hungry from playing five games over four hours and I was longing for a hot shower and a big plate of food. I thought that if we could win the first two games then it would all be over and we would not have to play the third. It was not to be. It was a hard fought game, and a close one to boot; but in the end our opponents won. The next game was much more decisive, we won by quite a large margin. Maybe our opponents were tiring.
And so the last game, the decider...
If our opponents had been tiring they had obviously found their second wind. This was a tough fight. Almost every point was fought to the bitter end. Long rallies were the order of the day. Our opponents proved worthy to the end, fighting like trojans, matching us point for point. By thirteen points I was hurting. My leg, which had been troubling me for several weeks forcing me to wear a support, was hurting with every step. My forearm hurt from so many long drives. My chest hurt from the exertion. But I had to go on. We were so close. I could not give up now.
Finally, at 14-13, we did it. We made the match point. We won.
I could barely believe it. Up to then I had been convinced that I would never win a tournament. But here I was, a winner. All that was left was the obligatory shout of victory and the congratulatory handshakes and then I could finally get what I was really longing for... A hot shower and a big plate of food.
I had started the day with no expectation of winning; in fact when the day had started I did not even know who my partner was going to be. The seeding and draw was supposed to have taken place on the Thursday before, but one of the players had been forced to pull out unexpectedly, so there was a mad search to try to replace him. Until a replacement had been found the draw could not take place. A replacement was found the next day and the draw took place on the Friday evening. Unfortunately, due to previously made plans I could not attend so I was unaware of the name of my partner. As it happens, he was unaware as well.
The person I was partnered with was another very regular player in the club so I knew him well. Unfortunately, we had never played together particularly well previously, so we had no high hopes.
The match started with a round robin to determine who would play for the shield and who would play for the plate. Each team was to play three matches. Our first match was very close, but ultimately we lost 13-15. the next two matches were both decisive victories (15-7, 15-7).
Once this first round robin was over, it was determined that we had achieved enough points to play for the shield, the top prize. The next round consisted of two round robins, one for the shield and one for the plate. Each team was to play two games. Again we won decisive victories (15-11, 15-7), and were given the entirely unexpected news that we had made to the final. However, we still had to wait to see who we would play.
When the points were finally tallied up, the other teams were so close that it had to come down to point difference, and the pair who won the right to play us was so unexpected that one of the members had already taken a shower thinking that he was out of the match.
And so, it began...
Both teams knew that this was going to be a hard fight, but I was heartened by the fact that when one of the members of the opposite pair had learned that they were to play against us, she had let loose with an unexpected (and very out of character) expletive. I guess she was slightly worried.
I was desperate to win the first game. We were all tired and hungry from playing five games over four hours and I was longing for a hot shower and a big plate of food. I thought that if we could win the first two games then it would all be over and we would not have to play the third. It was not to be. It was a hard fought game, and a close one to boot; but in the end our opponents won. The next game was much more decisive, we won by quite a large margin. Maybe our opponents were tiring.
And so the last game, the decider...
If our opponents had been tiring they had obviously found their second wind. This was a tough fight. Almost every point was fought to the bitter end. Long rallies were the order of the day. Our opponents proved worthy to the end, fighting like trojans, matching us point for point. By thirteen points I was hurting. My leg, which had been troubling me for several weeks forcing me to wear a support, was hurting with every step. My forearm hurt from so many long drives. My chest hurt from the exertion. But I had to go on. We were so close. I could not give up now.
Finally, at 14-13, we did it. We made the match point. We won.
I could barely believe it. Up to then I had been convinced that I would never win a tournament. But here I was, a winner. All that was left was the obligatory shout of victory and the congratulatory handshakes and then I could finally get what I was really longing for... A hot shower and a big plate of food.
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