UEL drew a thrilling match against Kings College in their latest BUCS South Eastern Badminton league fixture. Despite some standout battles, after eight matches the score finished 4-4. UEL still remain unbeaten, but the result wasn’t enough to see them top the league.
UEL put out a strong line-up for the match with Jamaican international Sean Wilson available for singles, as well as the return of Azhar Syed (pictured l-r, above left).
The doubles partnerships consisted of Marco Eng and Alvin Lee for the number one seeds and also saw the return of Josh Teoh from injury with debutant, George Geaves.
Positive Start
The game got off to a flyer for UEL as Syed pushed past Kings’ number one seed singles player with a scoreline of 21-11, 21-15.
Soon after, Teoh and Geaves were playing alongside each other for the first time in a new partnership, but were unfortunately beaten 21-15, 21-11.
UEL’s Sean Wilson comfortably won his match 21-17, 21-12, but again the doubles partnership of Eng and Lee were unable to capitalise on an otherwise solid performance, losing 21-16, 22-20.
With the scores at 2-2 this was proving to be UEL’s toughest test of the season and it was showing on court.
Speaking after the match, Syed felt happy with his overall performance: “I was confident that I could do my part for the team.”
Proving these two sides were as equal as each other Teoh and Geaves were beaten again 2-0 making the scores 3-3. Despite the loss Geaves felt his new partnership went well: “I felt I grew into the game as it went on and was happy with my performance throughout on my debut.”
UEL relied on their singles players, in particular, Sean Wilson, who again eased past his opponent 2-0, ensuring that UEL were at least going to get a draw.
With the pressure on, Eng and Lee took the last game into a deciding set which was very closely contested, eventually losing it 22-20. This resulted in a 4-4 draw leaving UEL and Kings to share the points.
The Verdict
After a hard away day at the home of Kings, UEL were satisfied with their performance and result taking a point back to East London. On the result Wilson said: “It was crucial that we didn’t lose as Kings are our title challengers.”
This was UEL’s toughest test of their season so far with both teams entering the match with 100% wins. This game may turn out to be a crucial game come the end of the season, it was vital that UEL were able to remain unbeaten.
Next match
UEL face a uphill battle in the cup next week in a match against Imperial College, who are two divisions above the east London squad. Every player in the team will have to play at their best if they’re to stand a chance of getting a result to a team they were beaten 8-0 by in the cup last year.
With no new injury scares, all players should be fit and available to face a good Imperial side and accomplish their goals.
