18th October 2017
PwC Castletown Abbey A [10] versus St Ninian's A [11]
There was plenty of exciting badminton on display at Castle Rushen as newly promoted PWC Castletown Abbey A took on last year’s mixed league 1 champions Cu Plas Callow St Ninian’s in their opening matches of the season and the result went right down to the wire. At second men’s Ben Chung performed admirably in what was his first taste of Mixed League 1 for St Ninian’s and, paired with the experienced Simon Fletcher, took the first end 19-21, but James O’Meara and Nick Thornley turned it around to win the next two ends 21-16 21-10. Sue Domingo and Alex Domingo regained the lead for the away side with convincing 10-21 3-21 wins over reserves Lina Desai and Asia Ogden.
Both first men’s and first women’s were fought over three tough ends. Baillie and Fingal Watterson raced through the first game but were pegged back by Jonny Callow and Kasper Kjeldsen in the second. The lead continually changing hands during the third, at 19-19 in the final game it was the brothers who made it over the winning line 21-10 18-21 21-19. Two tight games were shared between Pim Charoenchai with Lou Mellor and Jane Wooding with Nicola Wilkinson, with the later pairing keeping their composure and regaining the lead for St Ninian’s winning 18-21 21-19 12-21.
Fourth mixed went to the home side as league 4 pairing O’Meara/Desai impressively beat Cheung/A.Domingo 21-18 21-13, before Fletcher/Domingo put the visitors back ahead with a straightforward 12-21 11-21 win over Thornley/Ogden. Kjeldsen/Wooding fought back after losing the first end against B.Watterson/Charoenchai to win in three 21-16 15-21 17-21. The final match of the evening was another thrilling affair, after winning the first end 21-14, at 20-20 in the second end Castletown Abbey were on the verge of securing an overall match draw, but Callow/Wilkinson snatched the game 22-20 to force a decider. The third end was equally tense and unpredictable with F.Watterson/Mellor holding their nerve to win the third 21-19. BW