In contrast to the packed hall of the Open and Women’s doubles on Saturday, the Mixed Doubles on Sunday morning attracted far fewer spectators. Perhaps it was the late-night announcement of Lancaster’s victory echoing across campus at the end of an action-packed day – preparing Lancaster for a wild night out of celebration but giving York less motivation for the rest of the tournament.
Lancaster had won three out of the four point-bearing fixtures on the day before, but York had performed better in Women’s 1s.
Matches started at 9:30 after half an hour of warm-up for the players, starting with the equally-seeded pairs. York took an early lead in all three of the matches, building up numerable advantages in the matches on court. The fastest-paced action was happening on court 5 where the two first-teams exchanged smashes. Adam Blanchet from York was ultimately less successful than Lancaster’s Shawn Lee as it hit the net and gave Lancaster a point. This continued with Lancaster going 17-13 up, ultimately taking the game.
Meanwhile, on the other two courts, the scores were both 1-0 on games – one with Lancaster in the lead and the other with York. Both also equalised at 1-1, with points scored more quickly than on court 5. Lancaster 2s and York 3s both won their games.
On court 5, the second game was also taken by Lancaster – despite Blanchet’s best attempt to return the shot, he drove it under the next, conceding the point.
Each pair went on to play the other two pairs later in the morning. Both first teams had no trouble winning their second matches in straight games.
In their third matches, the Lancaster 1s game went to 20-20.
This victorious energy continued into the final matches, from which Lancaster scored one final win to take the fixture. In this way, Lancaster were left as the victors of the Badminton Mixed Doubles fixtures, winning 5 – 4, in what was a lovely, joyful Sunday morning of Badminton.