In a match kindly sponsored by the Radway Inn, Sidmouth Badminton Club s men's A team produced arguably their best performance of the season to defeat the division 1 league leaders Exeter A 5-4.

In a match kindly sponsored by the Radway Inn, Sidmouth Badminton Club's men's A team produced arguably their best performance of the season to defeat the division 1 league leaders Exeter A 5-4. Exeter arrived with a team boasting several county players, knowing that a win would guarantee them the league title, but it soon became clear that they were not going to get things all their own way. The match was an extremely close encounter swinging first Exeter's way then back towards Sidmouth. There were early wins for the Sidmouth pairings of Nigel Artingstall and Paul Carter and Vernon Smeed and Jamie Samuels before the new pairing of Chris Bird and John Carter took centre stage.Having won their opening two games and, with the match at 4-4, they played with calm authority to win 21-17 and secure victory for Sidmouth. They now face Queens Badminton Club in their final match of the season on March 27, which will again be sponsored by the Radway Inn.l The ladies' team continued their march to the Division 2 title with a thumping 9-0 win against St Leonard's C. The three Sidmouth pairs, Juliet Corsten with Yvonne Hudson, Debbie Baker with Hannah Manfield and Ruth Scrivens with Grace Williams, were never really stretched, winning all their games easily. They lead the table with 28 points with just two matches remaining.l In Mixed Division 2, Sidmouth's A team cemented their place at the top of the table with a 6-3 victory in a feisty encounter with Exeter B. The team hope to maintain their fine form in their final two matches against Otter Vale's A and B teams to hopefully gain the results they need to win the league and with it promotion to division 1.