Women's Water Polo
by Luc DuChateau at Kytlerian Sporting College
The Women's water polo team were the first Fenbarric athletes to appear at the games, playing Renzynistan in the pool stage, and coming out 11-7 victors in a close fought match to top the Group E table after the first round of games. Taking a 3-0 lead after the first quarter after two well worked team goals, both finished off by Lucy Hodge, and a screamer from Kate Fraser, they had reason to feel confident. However, at the end of the 1st half, they trailed 5-4, after a shocking keeping display from Delia Jones. Jane Pickwell was sent in in her place, and Susie Farthing replaced Hodge. The decisions payed off, as Farthing scored 6 goals, and only two more were conceded in the 2nd half. The match was finished off superbly by another screamer from Fraser.
Badminton
by Gordon Ying at the Jamison Expo Centre
Democratic States of Fenbar had a brilliant day at the Badminton, winning 4 out of 5 matches, and also receiving a bye. The first match was a fairly comfortable victory by Jasmine Hirst and Kelly Broker over the Darmen pair in the Women's doubles 1st round, as they ran out 21-15, 21-17 winners. There was a bit of a scare when Jasmine Hirst went over on her ankle early on in the second set, but she managed to recover well enough to help her teammate to victory. Barbara Oliver and Yasmine Rooney had a bit more difficulty in their match in the same competition, losing the 1st set 21-15. They recovered well to win the 2nd by the same scoreline, but the fitness of their opponents from Cosumar told, as the Fenbarric pair soon tired, and lost the 3rd set by 5 points. As the #1 ranked pair, Nigella Deio and Zanna Mickey received a bye into the second round, which will mean they that can stay fresh until the games start proper. Barbara Oliver went straight from her Women's match to the Mixed Doubles, where she paired up with Mike Wynall. Again, she showed a certain level of tiredness as the pair lost the 1st set 21-16, but seemed to find a new lease of life to win the 2nd and 3rd sets and qualify for the 2nd round, meaning that twice in one day a DSF pair had beaten a Darmeni pair. It was not going to stop there either, as Zanna Mickey and David Christopher came up against Frank and Favre from Darmen in one of the closest fought matches in the Badminton so far. Despite going down 8-0 in the 1st set, the Fenbarric pair managed to fight back to 20-20, and eventually claim a 23-21 victory. However, in the second set they again immediately dropped to a 6-0 deficit, and were never really able to recover, slipping to a 21-19 defeat. In the 3rd set they came out determined not to start badly, and soon built up a 9-2 lead, after some brilliant play from the back of the court from Christopher. The Darmeni pair managed to fight back to 11-11, but that almost broke them, and Mickey and Christopher won the next 10 points to claim the match 2-1. However, if they are to live up to their billing as one of the favourites in the competition, then they will have to start games better than they did today. We then go from a close match to an annihilation, as Leo Jaffa and Nigella Deio walloped a pairing from Reynzinistan 21-8 21-14 to qualify for the second round. Overall I feel it was a great day for the Fenbarric Badminton team, and with the single's tournaments yet to kick off, I can only imagine there will be more in store!
Basketball
by Nigel Adefuyi at the Hangar
It was a mixed day at the Basketball for DS of Fenbar. The men's team exceeded expectations by pulling off a brilliant 94-68 victory over um.. Vyktory. This puts them in a fantastic position, as they top their group after the first round of matches. The game didn't start off that well for them, as they dropped to a 21-7 deficit, but they soon managed to get into their rhythm, and create more and more chance, the majority of which they took. Halfway through the match they led 39-34, a tense game looking on the cards. However, during the second half they were on top of their game and soon pulled away leaving Vyktory in their wake. The much more celebrated women's team had a much more torrid time of things, as they fell to a 89-66 defeat to Peruvian Highlands. They looked a little rusty to me, and they never really looked in control of proceedings, meaning that a much more well oiled Highlands team taught them a lesson they won't forget in a hurry. If they are to get anywhere at these games, they will need to buck their ideas up, although I believe that they can beat at least one of Wilfred Test and Kalosia.
Day 1 Preview
by Jamie Partridge in The Kytler Peninsula
The Men's Water Polo competition kicks off tomorrow, and if they can continue in the same vein as the Women's team today, then I will expect them to go far. Watch out especially for young Henry Frome, who can do a lot of damage, especially late in the game when others are tiring. The Archery ranking rounds start off tomorrow as well, in both Men and Women's, and I would advise to watch out particularly for David Rent in the Men's, and his wife Katie in the Women's. At 53 and 51 respectively they are two of our oldest competitors, but I wouldn't bet against either of them winning a medal at these games. It was also revealed today that the lucky athlete who will be bearing our beloved flag at tomorrow night's opening ceremony will be long distance runner Megan Hill, who will be competing in the 5,000m, 10,000m and the 3,000m steeplechase. Many expected it to be swimmer Finn Hastings, but he is competing the day after, and will need a good night's sleep.
Reaction:
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Tim Young: Great win for the Ladies today in the Polo. Hope they can go all the way!
Raj Dhonit5: Can't believe Finn Hastings isn't gonna be the flag-bearer. #robbed
GreedyGretel94: Can't wait for the #openingceremony tomoz. Gonna be cray!