Uphill Badminton Club’s A and B teams are close to winning their respective divisions.

FOUR Uphill Badminton Club teams were in action last week, with the A, B, D and E teams in action.

The A team had a local derby match away to Wyvern A and although first man Paul Edwards was still unavailable due to his injured ankle, the team of Christy Langford, Matt Cole, Ellie Jewell, Mark Edwards (captain), Becky Halfpenny and Anjam Ajif still won by nine rubbers to nil.

All the mixed rubbers were won in straight games, although the last mixed between Becky and Anjam and Rachel Amos and Jimmy Sookphanick was close. The first two ladies’ rubbers both went to three games, but on both occasions the Uphill ladies won the third and deciding games convincingly.

The first two men’s rubbers were won comfortably in straight games, but the third between Mark and Anjam and Ross Maclennon and Sookphanick went to three before the Uphill pair won.

The A team are top of the league with a maximum 88 points from eight matches and now need just two points from their last two matches to become league champions for the ninth consecutive time.

The B team were at home to Chew Valley A and also won by nine rubbers to nil. The team was Emily Page-Symonds, Matt Potts, Harriet Birt, Robin Curry, Steph Hadley and captain Rob Morray.

The evening started with Emily and Matt being taken to three games in the first rubber by Evelyn Heighty and Gene Joyner before winning 24-26, 21-16, 21-9. The Uphill players then won all the rest of the rubbers in straight games.

The B team have now played eight matches and top the second division with 76 points. They now only need seven points from their last two matches to win Division 2.

The D team were away to the top and winners of Division 4 Winscombe and lost by nine rubbers to nil. The team of Kate Robinson, Carl Harrison, Emily Look, Sourish Ganapathi, Ellen Davies and Billy Fear had an evening to forget.

The first mixed was won by past Uphill junior Matt Heal with his partner Juliet Prowse beating Kate and Carl. The second mixed saw Emily and Sourish lose to past Uphill junior Clare Laney and Steve Dowden. In the final mixed rubber, Ellen and Billy lost to Sarah Wright and Oliver Dormer.

The first two ladies’ rubbers were won in straight games by Winscombe, who then won the third in a close three game rubber. Winscombe won all the men’s rubbers in straight games.

The young E team were away to Division 5 winners Nailsea & Backwell C, who they beat 5-4 at the start of the season, and were disappointed to lose another close match by 6-3.

The team of Dannie Stone, Harrison Whitehouse, Lauren Rickwood, Rowan Weekes, Bethan Dunning and captain Luke Morgan all played well.

The team got off to a good start when Dannie and Harrison won the first game, but lost the next two games. Alison Hodgson and Graeme Little won the second mixed in straight games. In the final mixed rubber, Luke and Bethan beat Wendy Chadwick and Steve Durston.

The Nailsea & Backwell ladies won all three rubbers in straight games. All the men’s rubbers were close and went to three games. The first men’s rubber between Harrison and Rowen and Monk and Little was the best of the evening with the Uphill pair winning. The second saw Harrison and Luke beat Monk and Durston and finally Little and Durston beat Rowan and Luke. The only players to win all their rubbers were Judy Little and Alison Hodgson of Nailsea & Backwell.

Uphill B team (left to right): Rob, Robin and Matt. Front: Steph, Harriet and Emily.

UPHILL Badminton Club is holding a 24-hour badminton marathon from 6pm on March 2nd to raise money for Comic Relief, thanks to the generous support of Parkwood Leisure, who are providing the sports hall.

Club members will start the event from 6-8.30pm, followed by an open session for any club until 11pm. Then the six club members, who will be playing for the full 24 hours take over till 9am, when the three Uphill junior groups will play till noon.

From noon-2pm there will be a men’s tournament and between 2-4pm there will be an Over-50s tournament. The event will finish between 4-6pm with an attempt to beat the Guinness World Record for the maximum participants in one rally (currently 113).

For this undertaking, huge support is needed. Anyone who would like to play or sponsor the event should contact Mark Edwards on www.uphillbc@hotmail.co.uk