Men show resilience

Badminton

With the season three months old, five of the eight matches played by Apollo so far have featured the club’s men’s teams. The men’s 1sts started the season losing 7-2 to Westgate in a tough introduction to life in the higher division for the new pairings of Matt Solly/mike Brealy and Graeme Solly/maurice Johnson. However, the newcomers bounced back when they travelled to Canterbury Christ Church University and came away with an 8-1 win. A clash with Ajax from Walmer was competitive but a strong performance from Martin Beckley and Ian Andrews bought another 8-1 win to see Apollo rise to second in the division. The men’s 2nds have also seen a big change in their line-up and headed to Hartsdown in Thanet for their first game, losing 8-1 to a tough team already on a winning streak. Jim Wilkinson and Ray Allen were the only winners. Their second match was also away at Canterbury side Rovers. Matt Coates made his league debut for the club, partnering Pat Solly. However, it wasn’t the dream start the club would have wished for as Rovers fielded an experienced team and won 9-0. Apollo’s composite team has made the strongest start to the season, winning both their matches. Invicta/pilgrims were the first to face the team of Lee Fennel, Kerry Stavri, Mike Brealy, Ian Andrews, Martin Beckley and Matt Solly. The visitors, who also play in Canterbury, didn’t get a chance to settle in any of the rubbers and Apollo won 8-1. Then the team headed to Rovers and continued their winning ways with a 7-2 result in a match in which six of the nine rubbers went to three ends. Their next match is against leaders The Kings. The mixed team started their season by travelling to Minster in Thanet and soon settled back into their winning ways to emerge 7-2 winners. A home tie against a revamped Racqueteers team from Sturry saw Apollo missing several players and go down 6-3.