Thame Badminton Take On Didcot (By Andy Scarlett)

Friday night saw Thame Badminton Mens first team take on Didcot Power C for the top position in the division. Didcot Power is the only team to take more than 2 rubbers off Thame this season. Additionally, the Didcot 1st pair were the only pair to have beaten Thame?s 1st pair.

Chris Charman and Chris Daniels had lost to the Mignanelli brothers in straight games last time the sides met and were out for revenge. Before the start of the match, Chris Daniels broke the strings in his racquet and had to change to his second racquet. This reduced the time that the pair had to warm up and this was reflected in the opening game. Nevertheless, the Thame pair tried hard to defeat the very good play of the brothers but the youngsters skills were too much, especially with Chris Daniels? smash ineffective. A quick team talk at the break, saw the Thame pair try to introduce some width to the game. Despite the smashes not firing properly, Chris Daniels tried to up the pace whilst Chris Charman started to win some of the net rallies. Their combined efforts saw Thame take the lead and also seemed to affect one of the brothers who started to lose his self control. Thame managed to reverse the score of the first game and tie the rubber. The deciding game saw the brothers take the lead and maintain it up to the change over. Unfortunately, the Didcot pair upped their game after the change and only allowed Thame one more point to win the last game and thus the rubber. This was the best rubber of badminton played by the Thame pair this season.

This result put pressure on the other Thame pairs. The Thame 2nd pair was a new pairing with Gareth Allingham, returning after an absence of 3 months, and Neil Richards, whose manager at Amazon Business Communication released him for this important match. The Didcot pair played a fast game that caught the Thame pair out at the start. Allingham and Neil Richards started slowly but then showed their superiority over the Didcot 2nd pair. Having won the first game, the new Thame pairing lost only 2 further points to wrap up the second game and the rubber. Trevor Walker joined up with Keith Richards to take on the Didcot 3rd pair. The tactic of one of the Didcot pair to serve high all the time kept catching Keith Richards out but did not prevent the pairing winning the game. A team talk at the break allowed the pair to step up and concede fewer points in the second game to win the rubber. This saw Thame ahead after the first round of matches 2 ? 1.

In the second round of rubbers saw the Allingham and Neil Richards pair take on the Dicot 3rd pair and easily win the first game. The opposition then improved their play but were unable to deny Thame the rubber. Walker and Keith Richards then took on the Didcot 2nd pair who knew they had to win the rubber to keep in the match. A hard fought game saw the Didcot pair just gain the upper hand to win. However, Walker and Richards raised their game and attacked to good effect to level the rubber. They could not maintain the pressure on the Didcot pair and lost the game and rubber. Charman and Daniels returned on court to play, determined not to lose. This determination soon saw the first game won and the pressure on the Didcot pair to win resulted in many mistakes. Unlike the last match, Charman and Daniels did not ease off and went to win the rubber. This left the result of the match still undecided at 4-2.

Allingham and Neil Richards took on the Didcot 1st pair. The Thame pair, playing at a high tempo and with some excellent shots, found themselves at game point. However, the Mignanelli brothers played hard and concentrated on keeping in the rally until they could win the point. They were able to draw level and the Thame pair chose to set. The Didcot pair took advantage of having the serve at the start of setting and fought their way to victory. The effort of taking the opposition to such as close game rebounded on the Thame pair as they lost the second game quickly. With the match now at 4-3, The Thame 1st pair took on the weakest Didcot pairing knowing that by taking the rubber they would put Thame in a winning position. Wasting little time, the pair dominated the game to win and again kept the pressure on to win the second game, the rubber and give Thame a winning match score. Walker and Keith Richards took on the unbeaten Didcot pair at the same time as the Thame 1st pair was playing. Didcot quickly won the first game, but when they realised their team mates had lost seemed to ease off. The Thame pair was not aware of this and tried their best but were still unable to overcome the Didcot pair.

Thame won the match 5 ? 4 to almost guarantee promotion. With the last 2 matches against teams Thame has already beaten, the team have it in their own hands to top the division. Thame Badminton Club is still looking for new members and welcome anyone interested on a Wednesday night at 8.00pm at the Thame Leisure Centre.