Several new champions in the fourth annual National Badminton Championships
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from May 1988.
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ol. After four evenings of extremely competitive but friendly play several new champions emerged at the thrilling finals.
The championships, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada for the fourth time, attracted entries from almost 40 players Island-wide.
Unfortunately hopes of a triple champion in both the mens and ladies matches were dashed when Chris Cole defeated Wray Banker - a finalist in the mens singles and doubles and mixed doubles - in a long match, 15-2, 4-15, 15-5.
Both players exhibited some excellent shots but Chris' extra experience saw him through the final game against Banker's power.
Luise Leslie is this year's ladies singles champion after an equally tough match against Christine Marr. In a physically demanding game she truimphed 9-12, 11-3, 11-5.
The mens doubles began the tournament as an open contest with the two CARIFTA doubles teams entered and among those capable of lifting the title.
The final was a close affair which saw the youth of Wray Banker and Osbert Francis with their CARIFTA experience against the older pair and reigning champions, Doug Young and Geoff Page.
The first game was very even with Young/Page emerging on top 17-14. The second game drew level at 7 points all when Young/Page pulled away. Francis and Banker saved five match points before unforced errors saw Young and Page clinch the title from the hard-fighting teenagers to win the second game 15-10.
The ladies doubles final between Janet Gordon and Louise Leslie against Jan Pereira and Christine Marr was also an exciting match after the pairs reached the finals after relatively easy semi-final wins.
The first game was set and Gordon/Leslie stormed through the final ponits to win 18-13. Not to be outdone the Pereira/Marr combination levelled the match by winning the second game 15-7, Pereira contributing some excellent winning shots in particular.
The third game was a close run affair until the final few points when Gordon/Leslie edged ahead to win 15-11.
The mixed doubles final followed between the top seeds, Alan Davies and Louise Leslie opposing Wray Banker and Christine Marr.
The last final of the evening started off at a pulsating pace with Davies/Leslie (the latter chasing her third title of the evening) running up a 9-1 lead.
Banker/Marr held firm and soon levelled the game and pulled ahead themselves in what was both the players third final of the evening.
The first game then levelled at 13 all until set in the tie-breaker by Banker/Marr 18-17.
The second game became a one-sided affair as Marr produced some excellent badminton and the duo ran away with the game 15-4 with the determination of champions.
Also decided on Thursday was the mens and ladies plate competition for the first round losers. Michael Broderick defeated newcomer Brian Bridson 15-4, 15-11 to take the men's plate title and Denise Johnson overpowered Edna Moyle from Northside 15-3, 15-0 to take the ladies plate title. President of the CIBA, Mr. Alan Davies, thanked Louise Leslie for her "fine organisation" of the week's tournament that went smoothly and on schedule before Roger Davies, the secretary of the CIBA presented the throphies to the winners and runners-up. It was generally agreed that the standard of play was much higher than last year and the tournament was exciting for the final champions were never a forgone conclusion. It was encouraging to see many new faces and it is hoped that the district championships in May will keep the trend of players on the increase.
