THREE Chulmleigh College Badminton teams travelled to Torbay Leisure Centre to represent Devon in Badminton England’s South of England Badminton Championships on Tuesday, March 12.
Winning teams from Cornwall, Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset, Bristol and Gloucestershire attended and ensured competition was fierce.
The Chumleigh KS3 Girls’ team of Izzy O’Callaghan, Belle Suliauskas, Sera Aldrich and Violet Warren found the competition tough; particularly in their first match against an excellent and experienced team from Truro Independent School (the eventual winners), losing 0-5.
The second match, against Badminton Independent School, was a much closer encounter, being level at 2-2 before losing the final game – ending at 2-3.
The third match against The Woodroffe School, resulted in a win of 3-2, so going into the final match against Katherine Lady Berkeley’s School, it was the decider as to which team won the Bronze medal. Sadly the result was a 1-4 loss overall, and so they finished in fourth position.
The college said the girls should be extremely proud of their performance, as all of them are Year 8 pupils and were competing against Year 9 players. As such they have another year in which to prove themselves at this level. All bodes well for 2020.
KS3 Boys’ - South Of England Champions
The Chulmleigh KS3 Boys’ team of Hayden Herkes, Ryan Dawson, Evan Dawson and Freddy Elson also started their competition against a strong Truro Independent School, resulting in a 4-1 match win.
The second match against Chew Valley School also resulted in a 4-1 win, and the third against Bournemouth Boys’ Grammar was a 5-0 whitewash! The final match of the competition against Marling Grammar School would decide all three medal positions and with an overall 4-1 win, the boys remained undefeated, winning the competition and Gold medals!
They now go on to compete at the National Finals at Milton Keynes on Sunday, May 5. A brilliant display from all four players: Hayden is in Year 7 and competing against Year 9s; Ryan will be at the National Finals for a second consecutive year; Evan is in Year 8 so another year competing at this level, and Freddy is new to the competition.
KS4 Girls’ - South Of England Champions
The KS4 Girls’ team of Learna Herkes, Eleanor O’Callaghan, Zoe Le Feuvre and Lauren Patmore kicked off their tournament against the pre-competition favourites, Truro Independent School.
A hard-fought match going in to the last game at 2-2 - Eleanor and Lauren fought off the nerves to win 21-18, sealing a 3-2 match win.
The second match, against Woodroffe School, was a much more comfortable affair and a 4-1 victory.
The third match pitted the girls’ against Cheltenham Independent College and their most resounding victory, a 5-0 whitewash, led by a dominate Learna who started with a highly impressive 21-5 win.
The final match was against Badminton Independent School and a win was required to pip Truro to the Championship and progress to the National Finals.
A 4-1 victory ensured their Gold medal, and a place in the National Badminton Finals at Milton Keynes on Saturday, May 4.
The girls remained undefeated throughout the day!
A special mention to Eleanor who won all her games, despite being hampered by a hamstring injury, and Learna who led the team superbly, winning seven of her eight games.
It was fantastic badminton results for Chulmleigh College! Two teams at the National Finals, two South of England Champions, three County Champions, one County Runner-Up, and four North Devon Champions is a brilliant achievement. Well done to all those pupils involved.