Under-strength girls struggle

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The Cippenham girls’ team missed star players Jemma Walker and Shristi Ghosh as the Junior British League season got underway at Derby over the weekend. Jasmine Williams and Holly Long were drafted in as replacements, pushing regular Megan Ashfield up to the number one position.

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Megan Ashfield got Cippenham away in the first match on Saturday morning, beating Medha Verma to put her team 1-0 up. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got as only Jasmine Williams, in the final game against Federica Bonato, was able to add to the score as Cippenham lost their opening match to Ashford Brunswick 4-2.

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Better was to follow in the afternoon against Ulster. An all round team performance, which included one win for each of the three girls, earned Cippenham their first point of the weekend in a 3-3 draw. Holly Long and Jasmine Williams both held off challenges from Lucy Johnson to win tight matches close in the deciding set. Megan added one against Emma Kee and Jasmine led Lucy Craig 2-0 in the opening set before succumbing in five.

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The Saturday evening match up against runaway Division 2 leaders Swerve saw Cippenham lose emphatically 6-0 without winning a game.

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Megan was in terrific form on Sunday morning as she won both her matches against Burton Uxbridge 3. However, the other two girls were not able to add to the scoresheet and Cippenham lost to the second-placed team 4-2.

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The weekend ended on a cheerier note as a further league point was gained in a 3-3 draw with Greenhouse. This time it was Jasmine who played the starring role, beating both Mya Sultan and Casey Nickle while Megan overcame Airney Gerald Jounarouk.