Badminton
8 August, 2025
Smash's winning streak continues
The Horsham Badminton Association's winter competition came alive for Round 11 on Monday, August 4, after a week's break due to Championship nights last week.
Racquet Rebels and Smash Stars were victorious in A Grade games, while Smash and Clear Shot secured victories in B Grade.
A GRADE
Racquet Rebels secured another one-sided win against the Shuttle Shifters.
Josh Dunn won three doubles and a sole singles set by defeating Brendan Nitschke by 21-15 and 21-19.
Rebels' Jerry Mekkara also contributed to the team's victory by winning three doubles with different partners.
Shifters' Avin James won two doubles for the side with Amy Barton and Daniel Aikten, but the team ended up winning only nine games.
RESULT: Racquet Rebels defeated Shuttle Shifters by 7 sets to 3, 15 games to 9, and 469 to 419 total points.
In the other A Grade court, Smash Stars continued their winning streak against Net Ninjas.
Wajahat Ali dominated the game by winning all four sets he played, including three doubles and one singles.
Paul Robertson teamed up with Timothy Lee, and Caitlin Sawyer partnered with Helen Francisco, both winning their doubles sets for the Stars.
Ninjas' Johnny Joseph won two doubles with Lachie Walker and Glenn Jenkinson, but Ninjas lost the match by 10 games.
RESULT: Smash Stars defeated Net Ninjas by 7 sets to 3, 16 games to 6 and 422 to 380 total points.
B GRADE
In the first B Grade clash, Clear Shot secured a win after being behind for most of the match against Drive.
Drive also scored more points than Shot (316-305).
The game was level at 3-3 after the six doubles sets, when Clear Shot's Mark Ngoi faced Drive's Tojo Joseph in the match-defining singles.
Mr Ngoi lost the first game by 15-21, but bounced back in the next two games to claim the victory for his team, winning 21-17 and 21-15.
Drive's Jing Tang and Wayne Byrner, and Shot's Annathurai Gnanasambandam and Alin Chong were the standout performers of the match in Doubles.
RESULT: Clear Shot defeated Drive by 4 sets to 3, 9 games to 8, and 305 to 316 total points.
The next court witnessed another team being smashed by 'Smash', and this time it was Drop Shot.
Harry Foster won two doubles with Ohoebe Whittaker and Laurie Liston but lost his singles set against Carolyn Beggs by 21-18 and 21-15.
Laurie Liston also contributed to the team's victory by winning three doubles sets with different partners.
Carolyn Beggs was the only standout performer from the Drop Shot side.
RESULT: Smash defeated Drop Shot by 5 sets to 2, 11 games to 6 and 330 to 278 total points.
