County Badminton Report

The county Over 45s veterans team brought their season to a close by beating Suffolk 8-4, but then narrowly losing to Nottinghamshire 15-16 on countback. Eddie Simmons, Mark Bennett, Geoff Roff and Steve Thacker were in particularly good form, winning all four of their level doubles against Suffolk and then three against Notts, with five of the eight games going to three sets. Jenny Longmore, Sandra Robinson, Suzanne Benton and Sally Bridgestock played against Suffolk, whilst Suzanne, Liz Cubitt, Jeannine Roe and Andrea Berger represented Norfolk against Notts , but could only pick up one game in each match.

Three of the four mixed games went to Norfolk against Suffolk, giving them a comfortable victory and they were leading 2-1 and heading for a great victory against Notts when Mark Bennett suffered a groin strain forcing him and Andrea Berger to surrender their game, leaving the match tied six all, but with Notts winning on countback.

*   The Over 60s also brought their campaign to a close with two good wins, 9-3 against Lincolnshire and 7-5 against Suffolk, leaving them unbeaten throughout the season. Playing for Norfolk in the final two matches were Alan Palmer, Bob Tooby, Martin Watson, Bob Collinson, Tom Chung, Lois Ash, Ann Hutchin, Gill Holman and Pam Mace.
*   Next Sunday is crunch time for the County first team, when they come face to face with Hertfordshire, their
main rivals to reach the Inter-county Championship "play-offs" for the second year running. The match will be played at Easton College Sports Centre, starting at 12noon. Supporters will be most welcome.