Surrey Smashers surged to the top of the National Badminton League (NBL) table with a home win at Surrey Sports Park on Monday night (December 1). A riveting finale saw the home side beat Loughborough Sport on the final point of the evening to take a 3-2 win on Match Night 3.
Birmingham Lions looked to be heading into the Christmas period top after coming back from 2-0 down for the second match running to beat University of Nottingham 3-2, before Surrey’s late theatrics. Incredibly, after six matches between the six franchises in the inaugural NBL season, five have gone down to the wire (3-2) providing some excellent live entertainment and some tense finishes.
Epsom-born captain, Chris Langridge and Dean George (as pictured above) saved five match points in their nail-biting men’s doubles match decider against Peter Briggs and Harley Towler. This meant Surrey Smashers maintained their unbeaten record in front of a capacity 1,000 crowd that gave both teams a standing ovation after a superb encounter at the Sports Park.
A delighted Langridge said after the game, “We said to each other that we wanted to make it exciting – perhaps 5-4 in the fifth – so we’re glad the home crowd went home happy.”
Match Night 3: Surrey Smashers 3 – Loughborough Sport 2
XD: Matthew Nottingham & Emily Westwood 2-3 Marcus Ellis & Jenny Wallwork (9-8, 4-9, 9-5, 4-9, 3-5)
Marcus Ellis and Jenny Wallwork combined superbly to give Loughborough Sport the perfect start as they beat Matthew Nottingham and Emily Westwood in a mixed doubles thriller. The match went to a deciding tie-break which saw Westwood net on her serve to hand Loughborough Sport a 3-2 win.
WD: Gabby Adcock & Eefje Muskens 3-0 Chloe Birch & Lauren Smith (9-4, 9-6, 9-3)
Gabby Adcock and Eefje Muskens, the Anglo-Dutch pairing, played superbly to beat Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith 3-0. Muskens has yet to drop a game in her two women’s doubles outings.
MS: Carl Baxter 1-3 Henri Hurskainen (4-9, 5-9, 9-6, 5-9)
Smashers’ Carl Baxter lifted the partisan crowd with his on-court passion – the Englishman was given the NBL’s first yellow card for racket abuse – before Henri Hurskainen kept his unbeaten season going with a 3-1 win.
WS: Soraya De Visch Eijbergen 3-2 Linda Zetchiri (5-9, 9-6, 7-9, 9-8, 5-3)
Soraya De Visch Eijbergen then came from 8-4 down in the fourth against Linda Zetchiri to take a compelling match into the tiebreak, which the young Dutch player took 5-3 to level the match.
“It was quite an unbelievable experience,” said De Visch Eijbergen. “That is the best win of my career.”
MD: Dean George & Chris Langridge 3-2 Peter Briggs & Harley Towler (5-9, 9-8, 9-6, 8-9, 5-4)
Loughborough Sport looked to heading for their first win of the campaign with Harley and Briggs producing some brilliant winners to force a decider. But Langridge and George forced the Loughborough pair into some late errors at the net before coming through in the tiebreak.
Match Night 4 will take place on Monday 26 January with Surrey Smashers set for another home tie against Team Derby. Watch this space for ticket giveaways as part of our partnership with Surrey Sports Park!
James Martin