By the time UEL play the University of Medway on March 1st, it will have been exactly a month since their last game. There could be contributing factors to whether or not this will have a positive or negative impact on what could turn out to be successful season of all time for UEL Badminton.
Since the 2012-13 season, UEL had been lingering near the bottom of the table and were not performing well on a consistent basis.
The Future’s Bright
This year coach John Fielding has put together a strong team which are now challenging for the title with a young ambitious side. Star player and Jamaican international Sean Wilson is 19 years-old and in his first year. Wilson will be representing UEL for the next two years. Captain Ali Chin and doubles player Josh Teoh are both second years so they will also be available for another year to help build on what has so far been a succesful season.
Last Year, Last Chance
The players that will be moving on will be singles player Azhar Syed who is in his final year, Alvin Lee and Tze Voon Lim. These three players will want to leave UEL on a high so expect to see a charged-up squad once the games resume.
UEL are on task to pick up promotion and become league champions. But could this month-long break for the team be a negative? Will UEL lose their momentum and slip up? Or could this have a positive impact on the players as they’ll feel refreshed and ready to go for their final three games of the season.
The players have been training hard in order not to slip up and enable themselves to keep up their unbeaten record. If they manage to do this, it will be a huge achievement. UEL were in a relegation battle and just beat the drop last season to stay in the league.
As half the team will be gone, UEL will have to look for new players for the next season at the next fresher’s event. But for up-and-coming first year George Geaves, this will provide him with the perfect opportunity to get into the team and prove his worth with the availability of spaces. But for now the main focus for UEL will be to regain their form for the last three games.
