A 6-3 win for the Combined team in this, our fourth, fixture of the season.  That makes it 4 from 4 so far.  Woohoo!

It all started happily with all of the first 4 games going our way.  Then, with only one more needed to seal the match, the away team steeled themselves to recover the next 2, so the match was a lot closer than we first thought it might be.  The Beaverhill team played well and were good sports all night, so I am looking forward to playing the away leg at their venue.  And this time, we are warned that a star player of theirs will be back on the teamsheet, so we will need to play at our best for a result then.

It would be remiss of me not to make note of Peter’s performance, winning not only his two men’s games, but also his mixed.  On the night, that makes Peter the player of the match , winning all three of his rubbers!

A welcome back to Jen too.  Our wanderer returns, and seems not to have lost her touch during her travels!

With 3 more games in the next week, this is a busy time of the season.  Let’s hope we can continue our good form.

Steve

Go Broomgrove!

here’s my match report for last night. Broomgrove v Oakbrook – 20th November – which ended Oakbrook 5 – Broomgrove 4

I feel very torn in two over this match: half disappointed; half proud… 4-5 is SO close! And one feels a strong sense of so near and yet so far. As ever, Anne Bennett and her powerful partner were our undoing. They are strong, experienced and canny and they beat us all. Iris and Susan and Sally and I were able to win our other rubbers giving us the 4.

BUT, and it is a big but, Sonja and Judy played some seriously good games despite being robbed of a victory. Judy (my friend from Sheffield University who is bravely subbing for us) has never played a match before, and Sonja, also meant to be a sub, actually turns out cheerfully for every match! They were great. And after all, 4-5 is no disgrace against a club that was playing in the first division last season. So, yes, we lost, but I’m still proud.

Thanks team.

Mary

A third win for the Combined team!  Well, we have certainly surprised ourselves with this run of wins in Division 1.

The match was hard fought against an experienced Phoenix side.  Joe and Jacquie stepped in and were the stars of the show – both winning all three rubbers (with a few nail-biting 3 gamers en-route)  Well done both!

It was also a night when Sally and I found that playing in a more levels style strengthened our game no end.  I’m looking forward to practicing this new system for sure.

Peter and Iris both won all their single-sexed games, and were a gnats whisker from winning their mixed (a few serves in the net aside!).  With this developing partnership, this win won’t be far off.

I’m looking forward to our next home game against Beaverhill on the 27th November.  Surely we can’t make it 4 out of 4?

Steve

A Abbeydale team off the back of two wins had put the loss against broomgrove to the back of their minds and were resurgent on a match where broomgrove found it hard to get going. After the first setof rubbers it was 2-1 to abbeydale and a big effort was put in by all however much like the first set of rubbers broomgrove found it difficult to beat 2 of the pairings whilst fairly easily overcoming their 3rd pair. Meaning a 6-3 defeat ensued. The games were closer than the score suggests with 5 rubbers going to 3 games and some tight scores in the other rubbers.

However Friday is a new day and a new opponant Wisewood, our fellow promotees, hopefully broomgrove can bounce back to winning ways.

Adam

Stats from Sunday

Gerry and Peter 0

Adam and Mark -2.9

Jason and Raj – 13

A great team performance all round saw the Broomgrove Combined team win their second match of two in Division 1.  Having gone 4-2 up against very good opposition, I had thought that the result was already ours.  However, the battling Mosborough side brought it back to 4-4, leaving the final match as a decider.  The nail biting three game rubber finally went the way of Broomgrove as Sally and I managed to hold our nerve to the end.

In a post match analysis (at the pub of course) Adam pointed out that all of the rubbers that went to 3 games had been won by Broomgrove.  This goes to show firstly how close the match was, and secondly the character and determination of all partnerships in the team.  With such a close fought home fixture, I eagerly look forward to the return at Mosborough – I’m sure it will be another very close match.

Special praise to Mary who played exceptionally well on the night, picking up 2 rubbers.  The first rubber of the match was a very hard fought 3 gamer with Iris, which set the tone for the match.

Next up is our first away match of the season at Phoenix.  Let’s see how long we can keep up these winning ways!

Steve

We lost to Grenilheg 6-3 but we are still buoyant.
All the rubbers/sets (what are these things called!?) were hard fought and it was actually a close-run match. We are, after all, a new team with inexperienced pairings. But despite that, Susan and Iris won 2 out of 3 and were a gnat’s whisker from taking all 3, losing one game 23-21. Sally and Becca similarly lost one at 23-21, and scored 19 in another. Sonja and I won one set and took another to best of 3. So, all in all, a very respectable performance in a venue that did us no favours.

Mary

Our first outing, ever! And against an experienced lot like Abbeydale too! But we matched the combined team and got a 6-3 victory. Thanks to all the team who were enthusiastic and uncowed by the mighty club. Iris is a great new player for us too and I promise to let others enjoy playing with her. She has great flair, attack and speed. For the rest of us, experience was a key, and our newer players show every sign of flourishing in the future. So thanks, team, and many thanks to supersub Jen and we wish her a lovely trip to NZ.

Mary xx

Hello everyone

You are all invited to the next Broomgrove Badminton social.

As we are entering into the run down to party season, and I always like to encourage the opportunity for us to get together and generally enjoy ourselves, I’m suggesting the following and really hope you can make it.

When:                   Saturday 5^th December

Who:                     All Broomgrove badminton members and associates

Time and place 1:   Meet at the Bannercross pub – from 7pm

Time and place 2:   Followed by dinner and a night out at Le Bistrot Pierre – at 8.00pm

 The evening will consist of pre-drinks from 7pm at the Bannercross pub and then taking a very short walk down to the newly opened Le Bistrot Pierre restaurant for food (part of a small chain of French cuisine restaurants across the UK).

I have opted for the à La Carte menu for the evening, rather than the fixed Christmas menu – so everybody will be able to choose what they want.

I have provisionally booked us into the restaurant at 8.00pm.

I’m sure we’ll indulge in a few beverages afterwards and possibly might even reignite last year’s sing star superstar experience!

As usual, other halves, housemates, friends, etc are welcome.

Please can you email me back by 20^th November and let me know if you’d like to join us – for a drink, for dinner or for both. I obviously need to know exact numbers for the restaurant please.It would also be good if others could come up with future suggestions for nights out, so we can set the precedence to be the most social badminton club in Sheffield.

Any questions, get in touch.

Cheers
Raj (Broomgrove Badminton social sec)
r.dhimar@shu.ac.uk
07795434448

A new season begins. An intrepid journey deep into the chasm of mens plastics division 3. New partnerships had been readied for the new season and hopefully would bring with them a level of success to the team for a second season in a row. As it was the partnerships worked as a near seamless machine grinding out 2 rubbers each, but all losing one rubber along the way. resulting with an encouraging start to the season with a 6-3 win, but with room for improvement along the way, if Broomgrove are to not only perform well in the division, but also maybe challenge for a spot near the top of the league by the end of the season.

For those stats lovers out there here are the partnerships points averages over their opponents

Mark and Adam + 18

Raj and Jason + 15.5

Peter and Gerry + 4

Well done fellas, bring on Abbeydale 6 on the 8th of November, hopefully with the same result or better as the last match.

signing off Adam (mens Captain)

First match of the Broomgrove season brought us a home victory.

A big welcome to Iris who played very well – taking her ladies with Sally and going to 3 with her match with Mary. Peter played with the drive, focus and consistency that he always brings to matches cleaning up the men’s matches (as per his remit). And Adam taking his quest to go the season unbeaten 1 match forward – go the big man!

Well done all! We’ve now 4 weeks off before the next one – so we’ve a chance for some practise in partnerships.

In the mean time – good luck to the mens team this coming week.

Go Broomgrove!