Smashers take win in NBL thriller
Surrey Smashers returned to winning ways on match-night 3 of the 2016/17 AJ Bell National Badminton League season with a fine 3-2 win over University of Nottingham Sport.
Badminton fans were treated to a night of world-class action at Surrey Sports Park as a total of five Olympians hit the court, including two with medals to their name, as Smashers breathed a sigh of relief to finally get their first win of the season.
Gabby Adcock and Sophie brown kicked off the evening in style with a confident 3-0 women’s doubles win over Jess Pugh and Nina Vislova, before Sam Parsons defeated a player 48 players higher than him in the world rankings in a thrilling 3-2 men’s singles match.
Captain and Olympic bronze medal winner Chris Langridge paired with veteran Dean George in the men’s doubles against Chris Adcock and Adam Cwalina, but came unstuck with a 2-3 loss.
That left Dutch Rio star Line Kjaersfeldt with the task of securing the match-night win for Smashers, which she did so thanks to a dominant 3-1 win over Malaysia’s Li Lian Yang.
The night of the night was saved till last as all four Olympians, including two medallists, hit the court in the mixed doubles. Fans were excited to see the battle between husband and wife pairing Chris and Gabby Adcock, going head-to-head for the first time in the AJ Bell NBL, alongside Langridge and London 2012 bronze winner Vislova.
A neck-and-neck opening 2 games saw each pair take one each, before Adcock and Vislova took control of the match and ended Smashers’ hopes of winning the much anticipated battle, settling for an overall 3-2 win on the night.
The match-night victory pushes Smashers up to 4th place in the AJ Bell NBL table, with their next fixture coming on Monday 9th January at home to Rajiv Ouseph’s Team Derby.
Full results vs University of Nottingham Sport
- Women’s Doubles: Gabby Adcock/Sophie Brown 3-0 Jess Pugh/Nina Vislova (9-7 9-7 9-8)
- Men’s Singles: Sam Parsons 3-2 Kieran Merrilees (9-6 9-6 0-9 1-9 5-3)
- Men’s Doubles: Chris Langridge/Dean George 2-3 Chris Adcock/Adam Cwalina (6-9 9-6 7-9 9-6 1-4)
- Women’s Singles: Line Kjaersfeldt 3-1 Li Lian Yang (6-9 9-5 9-4 9-8)
- Mixed Doubles: Gabby Adcock/Chris Langridge 1-3 Chris Adcock/Nina Vislova (8-9 9-8 6-9 7-9)
[Pictured: Sophie Brown and Gabby Adcock in action for Surrey Smashers. Credit Gary Baker]
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