Congratulations to Oxfordshire's county juniors who recently competed in the National U18 Inter Counties Tournament in Nottingham! Head Coach Jamie's report below:-
The first match saw Oxfordshire take on Northamptonshire. The match was a nail-biting, and saw the tie decided by the mixed. Oxfordshire won 6-4 with our players of the match being (Adesh and Grace for a great performance).
The Second match, saw a clash vs a strong Middlesex team. Unfortunately, Oxfordshire lost 7-3 and were now fighting for 2nd in the group.
The next day saw Oxfordshire take on Derbyshire. This was a tie filled with emotion, from both parties! A tough start to the match with a close fought loss in both mixed matches put pressure on the boys and girls singles. Both boys won, and one of the girls singles won. But an unfortunate injury to Maya Cawte hit the team hard with the question mark over whether she'd be able to play again at ICT 2024.
Next up Devon! This was set up for a great match, 1-1 after both mixed matches a clinical performance from Grace and Adesh again! Next up the boys singles - Jamie Wakefield battled through a three set match making it look easy in the third. Trissee played a great match against a successful older girl that regularly medals on the circuit! The boys Freddie, Jamie, Aadesh and Ashley pulled through to win both doubles in straight sets. Oxfordshire lost the match 6-4 again proving how competitive they are in the tournament when being defeated.
Next, we clashed with Cumbria. A big strong physical team that had been competitive throughout their path in the tournament. An amazing performance from Dharini and Freddie saw Oxfordshire 2-0 up after the mixed. Joel, Trissee and Jess also won their games in straight sets. Freddie and Aadesh continued their success as a partnership and won their doubles followed by Jess and Trissee winning to seal a match win of 7-3.
Starting day three, Oxfordshire cruised to a 9-1 win over Worcestershire. Oxfordshire truly showed their class throughout all matches.
Now, Oxfordshire we're playing for positions 20th-22nd. Two tough matches vs Staffordshire and Lincolnshire saw for an exciting finish.
Starting with Staffordshire, we split both mixed and both boys doubles. However, we came out on the wrong side of the girls singles. Again we split both boys doubles, and lost both girls in tough 3 setters. An unfortunate 7-3 loss on the board.
Finally, the last match after a full day of badminton matches within 40 mins of each other. An exciting start, saw Maya take back to the court after sitting out almost the whole tournament and unfortunately missed out on her win with the third set finishing 15-14 against them. We went 2-0 down into the doubles, followed by singles where we picked up 3. Onto the doubles and we split it .... Finishing the match in a well deserved 5-5 draw. Due to the clinical nature of Jessica we won clearly on ends but also on points.
As a result, Oxfordshire 2024 ICT team finished an amazing 21st !
Well done Team, Coaches & Team Managers!