Awards for All 19/12/06  We are pleased to announce that in recognition of the opportunity, that the league has to develop grass roots badminton, through coaching and Junior clubs, “Awards for All” supported by the National Lottery, has awarded a grant to our league.  This will be used to support coaching and Junior Club development in the Basingstoke & District area.  

Coaching Course 19/12/06 After the success of the Coaching Course held on 19^th November at Westgate there have been requests for another course in the New Year.  As a result the Westgate Centre has been booked for Sunday 11^th March.  If sufficient people are interested the course will go ahead.  Application forms may be obtained from the league secretary by telephoning  01256 781249 or by e-mailing secretary@bdbl.freeserve.co.uk.  A notice advertising the course will be on the website and copies will be sent to all club secretaries within the next week or so.

Ladies Matches 19/12/06   In the Ladies 6 Division, Beechdown beat a two pair Waverley team 7/2 with  Andrea Hill/Kate Appleton and Sandra Smith/Karen Southwell both winning two rubbers complimented by one from Sara Deed/Debbie Watkins.  Each of the Waverley pairs, Linda Rapacioli/Debbie Symes and Sally Holmes/Gill Trimmer won one rubber.  Phoenix also had only two pairs to face visiting LoddonSherpas at Sherfield School when the result was 7/2 in favour of the visitors.  Each of the home pairs, Alison Rendall/Wendy Mason and Carolyn Neale/Sam Taylor won one rubber.  Hayley Kopp/Cheryl Matthews and Becky Hall/Liz Firth won two rubbers for the victors. 

Viking opened their campaign in the Ladies 4 division with a 4/2 victory over BH Pegasus at the Sports Centre. Karen Hume and Alison Crawford took part in three winning doubles for Viking with Diane Cooper and Sara Haddow participating in one each.  The four home players, Jean Deverill, Haylie Fox, Jenny Skilton and Doreen Quilter each took part in one successful match.  In a more recent match Viking beat Beechdown 5/1 at John Hunt School.  Sandra Smith and Leanne Francis were the only successful pair for Beechdown while Karen Hume and Alison Crawford won their three rubbers for the winners complimented by two each from Ruth Cairns and Sara Haddow.

Mens Matches 19/12/06 Both Viking Mens teams in Division 1 had 7/2 victories.  The A side beat Beechdown A by this score at Winchester Road with the B side beating BH Pegasus A at John Hunt School.  Tim Cooper/Mike Fidge recorded a maximum for the A side in their win with Neil Hodges/James Bevis and Chris Powell/Tony Coombes supplying two rubbers each.  James Bartlett and Neil Marie won the two consolation rubbers for Beechdown A.  Two days earlier Viking B entertained BH Pegasus A emerging with a 7/2 victory. Graeme Berry/Scott Wilkins won their three rubbers for the home side with Stuart Cheng/Carlo Rapacioli and Ian Shoard/Simon Williamson getting two each to complete the win.  Dave Gough and Karthik Srinivasan won the two rubbers recorded by the losers.  

Andover Sports Mens B in Division 2 beat BH Pegasus B 8/1 at the Sports Centre to take a two point lead in the table at this stage of the season. Dale Turpin and Steve Glover were the winners of the solitary home point.  Sarmin Sarmin/Andrew Kinge and Nick Gladwin/Geriant Griffiths scored maxima for the visitors supplemented by two rubbers from Paul Williams/Peter Cowmeadow.  A 7/2 away victory for Phoenix A in the same division leaves them still up with the leaders.  Greg Sudell/Jon Thomson won their three rubbers for Phoenix A with Matthew Hawkins/Peter Bevell and Paul Verling/Paul Nightingale each chipping in with two rubbers.  David Ord and Mark Payne won the two rubbers for the losers.  At the moment this division is very close with five of the seven teams, Andover sports B, Aldermaston, BH Pegasus B, LoddonSherpas A and Phoenix A, all within 3 points of each other. 

Division 3 leaders BH Pegasus C beat Beechdown B 6/3 at Winchester Road with each of their three pairs, James Skilton/Mark Chappell, Ray Chow/Steve Tribe and John Franklin/Veera Arunachalan winning two rubbers.  Richard Bowen and Lee Chojecki won two rubbers for Beechdown B supported by one from Chris Meeking/Keith Dawson.   Elsewhere in the division Waverley beat visiting Whitchurch 7/2.  Ian Aherne/Adam Bridgen won a maximum for Waverley supported by two rubbers each from Kevin Caldicott/John Beattie and Rob Jackson/Milo Rapacioli.  The losers’ two rubbers were won by Dave Cooley/Stuart Gordon.

Mixed Matches 19/12/06   Brother and sister Neil Marie/Andrea Hill won the three rubbers for Beechdown A in their 6/3 away defeat by Viking A in Mixed Division 1.  Richard Whatley/Julie Shawley, Scott Wilkins/Alison Crawford and Carlo Rapacioli/Jane Halls, the three Viking A pairs, won two rubbers each. 

In Division 2, the Beechdown B side had more success, beating BH Pegasus C 5/4 at Winchester Road.  Mark Bayliss/Cathryn Perkins and Martin Webb/Karen Southwell both won two rubbers for the winners complimented by one from Nigel Appleton/Jan McDonald.  Steve Glover and Jean Deverill recorded a maximum for BH Pegasus C with their fourth rubber being scored by Alex Groom/Jenny Skilton. BH Pegasus B maintained their unbeaten run with a 6/3 away win against Aldermaston A courtesy of maxima from Prasanth Kumaran/Doreen Quilter and Martin Davey/Lesley Acheson .  Lawrence Sutton/Sandra Page, Glynn Libberton/Rhian Jenkins and Graham Page/Hannah page won one rubber for the losing home side. Viking B were unable to field a team to play BH Pegasus C and so were forced to concede the points.

With three rubbers from Chris Powell/Ruth Cairns and two from Neil Hodges/Diane Cooper a two pair Viking C team was able to secure a 5/4 victory over Beechdown C in Division 3.  James Bartlett and Leanne Francis won the only rubber for the home side.   Aldermaston B accounted for Whitchurch with a 6/3 scoreline in the same division with Rod Jenkins/Helen Apsley and Neil Hince/Sally Jenkins both winning maxima and each of the losing pairs, Peter Askew/Moya Abbott, Sean Mallard/Diane Sabin and Dave Cooley/Vivienne Hazell winning one rubber.

Bruce Scott/Sue Nolan won the only rubber for Beechdown D in their 8/1 home defeat by Waverley B in Division 4.  Robert Jackson/Gill Trimmer and John Beattie/Sally Holmes both recorded maxima for the winners supported by two rubbers from Milo Rapacioli/Heather Mountford.  Dave Sneddon and Mo Hudson won their three rubbers for Andover when they beat LoddonSherpas B 5/4 at Andover.  The other two rubbers came from Alan Dixon/Katie Gregory..  Steve Woodward/Liz Firth won two rubbers for the losers with Phil Hood/Eve Bielby and Paul Bonner/Caroline Thompson supplying one each to complete the scoring.  Andover Sports B continue to dominate the division with a fourth 9/0 victory.  This time their opponents were Phoenix B. The winning team was Chris Clarke/Val Wheeler, Ian Swatton/Liz Jones and Geriant Griffiths/Sue Hartfield.

Hampshire County 1st Team 19/12/06 A fine 9/1 victory against Hertfordshire followed by an 8/1 defeat by leaders Yorkshire and finally a 6/4 loss to Glasgow & North Strathclyde left the team in seventh position with 28 points after the second weekend of matches.  The final weekend in late March sees the team play Avon, Leicestershire and Essex.  The first two of these teams are in 10th and 9th positions in the table so hopefully Hampshire should be able to pick up enough points to finish in mid-table.