By Jon Cook
York’s badminton players made sure that those who gave up their Sunday lie-in today to come and show their support were not left ruing their decision, as the men’s and women’s teams triumphed 8-1 and 6-3 respectively. The squad had gone into this fixture understandably wary, having lost many of their successful Roses squad at the end of last year, but any nerves were banished early on as the favourites dominated their rivals and added to York’s increasingly successful Varsity weekend.
The display of the men’s side was especially impressive, the highlight being the pairing of Ricky Kanabar and Tom Gattenby. The duo played in good humour and won all three of their ties with some good teamwork and impressive individual flourishes along the way, this despite Kanabar having arrived fashionably late and showing evident bemusement at having to play on an unfamiliar court. The only blip for the men’s team was James Davies’ and Paddy Clarke’s 20-22, 21-12, 19-21 loss to the St John’s second pairing, York’s only loss in a men’s series they won 8-1, but this was a thrilling contest punctuated regularly by incredible rallies from which both sides could take heart
The women did not have it quite so easy on the way to their 6-3 victory. Intent on not following the losing trend set by their counterparts the St John’s 1st pairing won all three of their matches in imperious fashion but it was too little too late as Nattha Triesavit and Rebecca Moore, apparently spurred on by a nearby Britney-inspired placard imploring ‘Gimme Gimme Moore’, wrapped up the points with a 21-4, 21-13 win against St John’s 2nd string.