A tough fixture on Saturday the 24th February at the English Institute of sport in Sheffield as two unseeded badminton athletes took on ninth seed duo at Birmingham , Emily Easton and Izzy Pike. So close but so far for Amy Craig and Naomi Branford from the university of Glasgow, as they led for most of the 3rd leg – but were unable to seal the deal and the experience from the seeded players help them get over the line winning 21-19 clinching the win after a tough game.
Highlights of the last leg :
Before this game , the Glasgow girls had a few more tough challenges including another 3 setter 45 minute game. Despite playing together on the day , this was the first time the two had actually played as doubles. “ we’ve not really played together a lot so we were determined to do our best and play at as high standard as possible.” Amy Craig stated.
Their form was brilliant as a pair throughout the day as they played four games and won three of them. Winning the Qualification round of 128 2-0 , the Qualification round of 64 2-0 , the Qualification round of 32 , and their only loss being their toughest opponents in the round of 32 against Emily Easton and Izzy Pike loosing in an extremely close affair.
An encouraging first leg win with a score of 21-16 , this then seemed to open up a door for Birmingham , where they really decided to raise their level and won the second leg with a fantastic score line of 21-13 making it 1-1 and all too play for in the last. Glasgow Uni had a 4 point lead at 18-14 and only needed 3 points to make history and beat two seeded players. UoB started really running away with it and the rest of the game didn’t go to plan for Glasgow as they really struggled and their goals changed from winning to ‘staying in the contest’ which they did and the experience of UoB was really on display earning seven points out of the next eight winning the game 21-19.
The last rally to win the game :
A performance that made both parties proud especially the Uni of Glasgow as they came so close to coming out on top. “I had a lot of fun , it was a great game and I probably played the best I’ve ever played in my life” Naomi Branford said when questioned on what she thought. A key positive that the Women were able to take from the narrow defeat is gaining confidence for future tournaments.
Also mentioned whilst speaking to them after the game was the cohesion between them. Having played with each other minimal times , they did extremely well to stay in the game so long but also lacked communication with each other as Amy said “ sometimes we would both swing , and both miss , the communication is somewhat lacking but we have the passion !” Reiterating what they need to work on but also showing how much they care about winning and playing the sport they love.
“The atmosphere is great and it’s a fun weekend” is what Amy Craig and Naomi Branford both said , talking about what it means to represent their University at the BUCS Nationals. With it being Amy’s first BUCs event and Naomi’s second it is still as special as before whilst Naomi says it would also be ‘nice to win’.
Post Game interview :
Amy Craig also spoke on her experience at her first BUCS Nationals event ” I was a bit nervous , as it was my first one , so I’m looking forward to going back and having a better idea of how things run and not stressing as much.”
She then followed up talking about why she was excited to go back next year. “I’m excited for the Atmosphere. Playing in Scotland is great as its a tight knit community so we all support each other , but at BUCS its such a great opportunity to play different people , rather than the same.”
