The Team Handicap final was held on the evening of Thursday 25th July at the Youth and Community Centre, Bexhill, between Bexhillians A; John Ellis, Brian Busbridge and Dave Laing, and Bexhillians B; John Bradbury, Trevor Towner and Daniel Starnes.
The match was an epic struggle between two closely matched teams finishing at 11.15.
The first game of the evening was between the two Johns with John Bradbury with a six point advantage overcoming John Ellis 21/14, 21/12.
The second game, between Brian Busbridge and Trevor Towner, was a much closer affair. Brian conceding seven points to Trevor clawed his way to win the first set 24/22. In the second set he overcame his deficit much earlier only to have Trevor hang on and win it 22/20. In the third deciding set Brian again overcame his deficit quickly but Trevor again hung on, however Brian pulled away at the end to win 21/16.
The third game was another very close contest with Daniel Starnes attacking most of the time and Dave Laing defending heroically. Daniel giving a three point advantage to Dave eventually won 19/21, 21/19, 22/20
The fourth was between John Ellis and Trevor Towner and was another close affair. John despite giving a ten point start to Trevor won the first set 20/22, but in the next two sets that disadvantage was too much and Trevor won 21/17, 21/18, to take the overall score 3-1 in favour of the B team.
The next game, between Dave Laing and John Bradbury, was another close contest. Again Dave defended heroically and with a seven point advantage won 19/21, 21/18, 21/10.
Brian Busbridge then levelled the scores to 3-3 by beating Daniel Starnes 21/18, 21/19, despite giving a four point start to Daniel.
Trevor Towner, with a two point start, regained the lead for Bexhillians B by beating Dave Laing 17/21, 21/18, 21/14.
John Ellis levelled the overall score again by beating Daniel Starnes in what was probably the best game of the evening between two attacking players. John giving nine points to Daniel won 17/21, 21/13, 21/18.
In what was the shortest game of the evening Brian Busbridge won the contest for Bexhillians A. Aided by a three point start he completed his maximum by beating John Bradbury 21/13, 21/9.
Peter Harding
