UEL lost 6-2 against City University of London in their final game of 2017 at SportsDock on Wednesday 7th December.

The hosts were without Jamaican International Sean Wilson due to other commitments outside of university. Wilson is the only singles player to have won a game this season and UEL his absence was evident.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The game got off to a brilliant start for UEL as Ali Chin and Marco Eng swept aside their opponents, 21-7 and 21-9 in convincing fashion.

The pair continued their brilliant form from last weeks game and Ali Chin was pleased with the result and said: “we eased past our opponents.”

The East Londoners then lost their next three games with Zain Asyraf being beaten 8-21 and 11-21 in his first game.

Abul Hasnat had a closely fought game after winning his first set 21- 12, but went on to lose the next two sets, 15-21 and 8-21.

George Geaves and Josh Teoh were outclassed in their first game, losing 21-12 and 21-16. A series of mistakes handed the easy win to their opponents.

Bad News

Hasnat and Asyraf then lost their last games convincingly which handed the visitors their victory as they had now claimed five games leaving UEL without a league win.

UEL still had fight in them though as Geaves and Teoh pulled off a great win in their last doubles game. The first set was a 24-22 thriller and the East Londoners showed great character after conceding six points without reply at the start of the set.

They then held on to win the second set 21-16 in a game where they began to click as a partnership for the first time.

Doubles Positives

After the break Chin and Eng were also involved in another brilliant game, sealing their first set 21-18.

The pair looked like securing their fourth game in a row, but things took a turn as they lost the second set 14-21. The last game was set up to be a tense affair even though the match was already lost.

Unfortunately Chin and Eng also conceded the last set but they battled hard and can take positives from their 18-21 loss.

Next Year

It’s not the end to 2017 that UEL would have wanted, but overall it has been a brilliant year for the Blues.

The side will look to push on in the league in 2018 and ensure they’re playing in the South Eastern 3b Conference next season.

After the Christmas break UEL meet top of the table Imperial College London on the 24th of January.