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KS3 Badminton

Clyst Vale hosted the Exeter and District Badminton tournament on Monday evening and the hall was filled with excitement as we welcomed a number of local schools. The girls team were led by Kasey who has recently joined the Devon squad and the extra coaching had clearly payed off as her shot selection and footwork on court dominated all in front of her. Supporting her was the energetic and surprisingly powerful Aimee and the long time pairs duo of Raisa and Merynn. The girls equited themselves well, winning all but their match against the Blundells first team. The match was on a knife edge and despite some superb rallies from Merynn and Raisa, the final game was lost 15-14 and with that the chance of qualification slipped away. Hard fought in great spirit, but just a few points short in the end. 

The boys fielded two teams with the 2nds captained valiantly by the swashbuckling Edward. His serves are a menace and his flamboyant backhand a surprise weapon in his singles. Tristan played at number two and he has showed why he is a regular in the squad with clever changes in angle on his shots making opponent's cover the whole width of the court. Ewan was as athletic as ever, leaping into action along side the only player from year 8, Stan. Both lads won brilliantly across the tournament and the team as a whole lost only to Tiverton 1 by one game. A strong performance from the second squad against some tough opposition.

The 1^st Team were led by Dexter, like a few others, taking a break from Beauty and the Beast rehearsals to join the drama in the sports hall. Dexter's power and movement were clear to see as he battled his way to victories in most of his games. He was seconded by Harry who used his natural tennis timing to great effect smashing his opponents into submission with a series of steep and powerful shots. Elliot who has made the transition to the first team and Archie were a strong pair to support the efforts in the singles and although a little guilty of hitting too many deep shots straight down the middle, they grew into the game and Archie's net play and drop shots had his opposition scurrying to try and retrieve them. The tournament came down to the final match between CVCC 1 and Tiverton 1 and the boys from Clyst Vale saw off the challenge to deservedly qualify for the next round.

A super afternoon of badminton in as always a very positive and welcoming atmosphere.