Roses mixed badminton: York 5-4 Lancaster

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Photos: Oliver Todd

York dominated the mixed badminton against Lancaster despite forfeiting three matches due to injury troubles.

York got off to a flying start in the Sports Centre 2 with the first-seeds Baillie Watterson and Clare Breare comfortably seeing off their Lancaster counterparts Neil Rylander and Danielle Croucher 21-11, 21-12, in a match which saw some very competitive rallies and well-placed shots.

On the other court the second seeds were battling it out in a closely-fought match – York’s Andy Henderson and Dani Farsiani hit some vicious shots to Lancaster’s Alex Butt and Stephanie Hall who defended well.

However, as the first game drew close to its conclusion, Farsiani went down clutching the underside of her knee. An ice-pack was administered and the match was delayed for at least ten minutes. Farsiani seemed eager to persevere and played the last couple of points, with Lancaster eventually winning 22-20.

Despite her determination, Farsiani’s injury proved too serious for her to continue and York were forced to forfeit all three of her matches.

Meanwhile on the other court Tom Dainty and Rachael Farrington won 21-12, 22-20 against Lancaster’s Tsun Kei Wong and Sun Yinai.

Next the Lancaster first-seeds Neil Rylander and Danielle Croucher were thrashed by York’s third-seeds Tom Dainty and Rachael Farrington 21-8, 21-13. With the scores levelled at 3 apiece it was all-to-play for in the remaining matches.

York decided to play the matches in which Farsiani would have played despite her injury, with Liz McFadzean taking over from the hurt player. Although the matches didn’t count towards the final score, the York pair gave their all – Andy Henderson said “our aim was to wear [Lancaster] down.”

Meanwhile a thrilling match was being played out on the first court, with Watterson and Breare falling behind in the first game to Butt and Hall 21-16 – the animated Baillie was visibly frustrated. The York players did extremely well to recover though and won the final two games 21-9, 21-11 – the commitment from both athletes was inspiring.

And the York first-seeds took the momentum into their final match again Lancaster third-seeds Wong and Yinau, winning emphatically 21-18, 21-14. The tie was now decided, with York having won an unbeatable 5 matches, and there was celebration all-round in the away camp.

The futile final match ended up with a York loss, 9-21, 21-19, 10-2, but the team were happy, winning 5- 4 overall. Clare Breare said “We were very nervous, especially after Dani’s injury so early on – it was very tense but we’ve all enjoyed it.”

Yet another badminton victory for York means a further 4 points for the university in Roses. Captain Baillie Watterson said it was “amazing.”