Womens firsts
Over at Northumbria's Sport Central, Team Newcastle put in a highly spirited and entertaining performance against their local rivals. After last year's 6-2 victory over Northumbria for Stan Calvert, Newcastle Women's firsts were eager for another victory. In the singles matches, first seed Angel Chow played Northumbria's second seed in two very lively games of badminton jam packed with intense rallies, Chow had a tight hold of both games and reacted well to her opponent's tricky shots throughout to win the match overall. Chow kept her cool against Northumbria's first seed in her second match and won comfortably to gain another win for Newcastle.
In her first match, Newcastle's second seed, Alex Berry, fought hard against Northumbria's first seed but couldn't quite muster a win. Berry worked hard to produce some high scores against her opponent in her second game against Northumbria's second seed, but was unfortunately beaten.
Fast paced rallies were littered with fantastic drop shots and smashes
The doubles games saw Newcastle's first team duo, Cara Vincenti and Beth Vickerman, put on two highly entertaining games of badminton against Northumbria's second team in their first match. Fast paced rallies were littered with fantastic drop shots and smashes, with Newcastle particularly favouring the smash shot to give them another win. Vincenti and Vickerman played Northumbria's doubles first seeds, the Newcastle pair worked hard throughout both their games but narrowly lost out 21-17 and 21-18 retrospectively for Northumbria to win the match overall.
Newcastle's second seeded doubles duo, Izzy Cain and Elle McCann lost out in their first match to Northumbria's first seed doubles. However, they bounced back against Northumbria seconds, with their first game winning 14-21 and holding on in their second game to win 22-24, giving Newcastle another win. Although the overall score for the women's firsts was 4-4, Newcastle did not disappoint and provided some excellent games of badminton.
Mens seconds
At the same time, Newcastle Men's second team found history repeating itself from their 5-3 Stan Calvert defeat to Northumbria last year. In the singles, Newcastle's first seed, James Ashcroft, was deeply unlucky as he was narrowly defeated in both of his matches.
Newcastle's second seed, Pratyush Pradeep, also gave Northumbria a fight but was again narrowly defeated in both matches.
Ryan Jackson and Ziyang Gan had an excellent morning after a shaky first game to Northumbria firsts
In the doubles, Newcastle first seeds, Josh Murphy and Jeremy Revell were unlucky to lose their first match against Northumbria seconds in a three game thriller. However, they bounced back in their second game against Northumbria firsts to comfortably give Newcastle a win.
Newcastle second seeds, Ryan Jackson and Ziyang Gan had an excellent morning after a shaky first game to Northumbria firsts, they defeated the firsts and the seconds, both matches seeing an energetic three games. Newcastle Men's seconds demonstrated a passionate performance, but it wasn't to be and lost 5-3 to Northumbria.
Mens firsts
Newcastle Men's first team were also victims of history repeating itself after their 5-3 Stan Calvert defeat to Northumbria last year. In the singles, Newcastle's first seed, Rex Lee gained a comfortable win in his match against Northumbria's second seed.
Up against Northumbria's first seed, Lee had a slow start and struggled to get into the rhythm of the game, but performed some amazing shots in an attempt to faze his opponent. Newcastle's second seed, Yao struggled against Northumbria's first seed who dominated the game to give Northumbria a win.
Rex Lee gained a comfortable win in his match against Northumbria's second seed
Yao was also unfortunate in his second match against Northumbria's second seed, giving Northumbria another win.
In the doubles matches, first seeds, Jack Dye and Michael Taylor had a good start to proceedings with a win against Northumbria seconds in an intense game which featured a series of quick smashes by the Newcastle duo to faze their opponents. However, after a brilliant display of badminton, the pair were unfortunate to be beaten by Northumbria firsts.
Newcastle's second seeds, James Turner and Jono Shaw lost their first match to Northumbria firsts. However, they gained a win for Newcastle in a thrilling finale against Northumbria's seconds. Newcastle Men's firsts lost 5-3 to Northumbria firsts, but displayed some fine games of badminton in an energetic performance.
