The UEL Men’s badminton team have continued their resurgence with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Queen Mary 3rd team to gain back to back wins.
The East Londoners are now close to securing safety in the South Eastern 3B league with the result putting them six points clear of rivals Kent.
UEL were finally able to field a full team due to the fixture being at home, with Zain Asyraf coming into the side. There was an alteration in the line-up as Asyraf partnered Joshua Teoh while George Geaves moved to singles.
Early Advantage
The opposition were a man down and only had one singles player, meaning that UEL had a 2-0 lead before a shuttle was hit.
Sean Wilson blew his opponent away in his only match. In a stunning singles game the Jamaican won 21-1, 21-5. He even claimed afterwards: “I gave my opponent one point in the first set on purpose by serving into the net.”
Ali Chin and Marco Eng continued their fine form from their previous encounter with Queen Mary last week. The duo emphatically won 21-13, 21-9 going full attacking mode as their opponents couldn’t handle their aggressive play.
At this stage, 4-0 up and no matter the results in the four remaining games, UEL had earned a draw with more points to play for.
Queen Mary Comeback?
Teoh and Asyraf couldn’t quite emulate the form of their teammates as they lost their first game 17-21, 21-19 and 12-21. They clearly struggled to establish an understanding as the pair haven’t played to together for a long time.
Applying the wrong tactics and unable to utilise their normal game as they couldn’t kill the shuttle as their opponents kept returning with ease.
Queen Mary could now see a way back into the game, needing to win the last three games to tie the match.
Their fightback began to look like a real possibility as Geaves and both doubles pairs lost the first set of their second game.
Control Regained
Thankfully for the East Londoners, each player fought back and won their second and third set.
Geaves managed to edge his opponent 17-21, 21-17 and 21-15 in his first game in the singles discipline since playing for UEL. Showing great character to step up wherever needed, UEL had won the game with two more games to play.
Chin and Eng were the next to emerge victorious despite going down in the first set as they claimed the game 14-21, 21-9 and 21-10. The pair continue their fine start to 2018 which has played no small part in UEL’s upturn in form.
Zain and Teoh then rubbed salt into the Queen Mary wounds as they won 18-21, 21-17 and 21-11 to record their first win as a pair.
Killer Instinct
So, the East Londoners eventually won 7-1, by far the best result of the season and leaving the team looking up the table rather than down it.
After a three-week break between games, this result shows the dedication shown by the squad in training.
Next week UEL look to secure their place in the South Eastern 3B league as they host Queen Mary 2nd team in the last game at SportsDock this season. It will be the final game for Chin, Teoh and Eng at home as they are set to graduate at the end of the year.