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Finals out of reach for Smashers

Surrey Smashers are out of the race for the 2016/17 AJ Bell National Badminton League Championship Finals after suffering a 3-2 match-night loss at University of Birmingham Lions on Monday evening.

Knowing that two big wins were needed from their final pair of match-nights, the pressure was on for Head Coach Hayley Adcock to get the best from her side and mount a late charge for a top two league spot.

The night opened in a less than ideal fashion for the visitors, as well timed PowerPlay for Fladberg and Poulsen dealt a killer blow in their 4th game against Tom Wolfeden and Gabby Adcock, handing Lions a 1-0 lead.

A nail-biting match followed in the women’s singles to restore some confidence back in Smashers’ night, with Fontaine Chapman and Line Kjaersfeldt almost going point for point throughout the whole tie until the Surrey Olympian was able to take the match winning shuttle at 4-all in the tie break.

With the match-night level at 1-all, Sam Parsons went searching for his 3rd straight AJ Bell NBL win but was quickly dispatched 3-0 by Toby Penty, before Adcock and Sophie Brown brought the scores back level with a relatively comfortable 3-1 win over Poulsen and Jenny Wallwork.

This left the match-night result resting on the men’s doubles and few would have expected the tie to be over in just 13 minutes, as Colberg and Fladberg quickly brushed Smashers captain Chris Langridge and Wolfenden aside to secure a vital 3rd point and the match-night win.

With all other matches on the night also finishing 3-2, the result ends Smashers’ chances of reaching the Championship Finals in February with only a trip to Bristol Jets remaining on Monday 6th February.

Posted on January 24, 2017
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