CHULMLEIGH College pupils travelled to Paignton Community and Sports Academy Hub on Wednesday, February 6 for the Badminton England Devon County Championships.

Out of four County Champion places for the upcoming Regional Finals, Chulmleigh took a record three, the best result in College history!

The KS3 Girls Team (I. O’Callaghan, B. Suliauskas, V. Warren and S. Aldrich) started with a hard-fought 3-2 win against Exmouth. They then followed this with a more emphatic win against QE 4-1, another tough match against Clyst Vale 3-2, and finally a 5-0 triumph over Uffculme.

The KS3 Boys ‘A’ Team (H. Herkes, R. Dawson, E. Dawson and F. Elson) had a truly exceptional day, only dropping one game out of the 35 they played. They beat The Kings, CCC ‘B’, Clyst Vale ‘A’, Clyst Vale ‘B’, Uffculme and Torquay Academy all by the score of 5-0, with the other match being a 4-1 victory against a strong Exmouth team.

The KS4 Girls Team (L. Herkes, E. O’Callaghan, Z. Le Feuvre and L. Patmore) started the competition with their most difficult match, against a QE team that reached last year’s National Finals.

The girls fought hard in all five games with Learna winning her singles, Eleanor and Lauren the first doubles, and Learna and Eleanor clinching the match with a second doubles win, ensuring a 3-2 victory. The remaining matches were all very straightforward with 5-0 wins against Uffculme, Exmouth and The Kings.

The most competitive and demanding event of the day was the KS4 Boys tournament, where 10 teams entered involving nine matches and 45 games, with each player playing 18 games.

The KS4 Boys ‘A’ Team (R. Warren, A. Beel, M. Upright and W. Auty) hoped to follow up last year’s successes at county, regional and national competitions with another tilt at medals, but knew that competing against stronger and wiser Year 11 pupils would be a difficult task.

The boys won their first eight matches beating Tiverton ‘B’, Wellington, Exmouth, Tiverton ‘A’, Chulmleigh ‘B’ and Torquay Academy all 5-0.

They also produced a 4-1 victory against Uffculme and a hard-fought 3-2 win against Clyst Vale.

A win in their final match against a strong The Kings team would have secured another county title for the boys, but unfortunately, the number of games finally caught up with them and they went down to a 4-1 defeat.

Three teams finished up with a playing record of eight wins and one loss – The Kings, Exmouth and Chulmleigh ‘A’.

To decide the outcome, the judges added up the number of actual games won by each team. Exmouth were eliminated from the competition, having won fewest games and finished the day in third place.

The Kings and Chulmleigh ‘A’ had both won 38 out of 45 and so the outcome of the tournament went to the head-to-head result between the two teams, and unfortunately the final 1-4 loss cost the ‘A’ team the championship.

All teams played well on the day, with fifth place for both the KS3 and KS4 Boys’ B Teams.

The KS4 Boys ‘B’ Team (C. Suliauskas, L. Bainbridge, M. Kneller and S. Williams) produced 5-0 wins against Tiverton ‘A’ and Torquay Academy and a 4-1 victory against Tiverton ‘B’.

They then recorded a 3-2 defeat against Uffculme, 4-1 losses against Exmouth, The Kings, Clyst Vale and Wellington, with their only 5-0 defeat coming against Chulmleigh ‘A’.

The KS3 Boys ‘B’ Team (M. Vincent, J. Harrison, J. Webber and D. Upright) had an excellent day winning four matches and losing three.

They beat Clyst Vale ‘A’ 5-0, Uffculme 5-0, Clyst Vale ‘B’ 5-0 and The Kings 5-0, losing against Torquay Academy 1-4, Exmouth 0-5 and CCC ‘A’ 0-5.