Badminton
13 September, 2025
Smash point or Shuttle Showdown?
At Horsham College Basketball Auditorium on Monday, September 15, the Smash Stars will play Shuttle Shifters in the A Grade and Smash will play Clear Shot in the B Grade Grand Finals of the Horsham Badminton Association’s winter championship.
The tournament witnessed long rallies and strong smashes during the semi-finals on Monday, September 7, and preliminary finals on Wednesday, September 10.
Preliminary Finals - A GRADE
Shuttle Shifters dominated the preliminary final against Racquet Rebels with an eight-set win.
Shifters won all the doubles sets they played, and the teams didn’t go on to play the singles.
Brendan Nitschke won three doubles sets with teammates Subin Mathews, Sanjai Nair and Amy.
Shifters’ players dominated the match and won straight sets, with only set going to three games.
Rebels faced two defeats in the final stage of the championship and are now eliminated.
Result: Shuttle Shifter defeated Racquet Rebels by eight sets to 0, 16 games to 1, and 349 to 261 total points.
Preliminary Finals - B GRADE
Smash came back strong after the semi-final defeat and claimed the grand final position after defeating Drive.
Laurie Liston was the standout performer from the Samsh side, as he won three doubles sets for her side alongside Aden Merrett, Harry Foster and Phoebe Whittaker.
Aden Merrett also played well in the match.
Drive won three sets of the match, but the game was over after the fifth doubles set, as Smash won four out of the five sets.
Rohan beat Phoebe in the Singles set by 24-22 and 21-9.
Result: Smash defeated Drive by four sets to 3, 8 games to 6 and 254 to 212 total points.
SEMI-FINALS - A GRADE
In the first semi-final, Smash Stars just smashed Racquet Rebels to reserve a grand final spot.
Stars’ Wajahat Ali led the team to victory, winning four sets overall, including three doubles and one singles set against Josh Dunn, by scores of 21-6 and 21-12.
His performance in the grand final would be very crucial for the Stars to lift the trophy.
Caitlin Sawyer also contributed to the team’s victory by winning two doubles alongside Paul Robertson and Lisa Heal.
Lisa Heal also won all her doubles sets.
Paul P of Rebels won only two doubles sets for his team, alongside Tomy Abraham and Theresa F.
Result: Smash Stars defeated Racquet Rebels by eight sets to 2, 18 games to 5 and 379 to 474 total points.
In the other semi-final on Monday, Shuttle Shifters made a comeback against Net Ninjas, defeating them by two sets.
Ninjas started well by winning the first three of the four doubles sets. Shifters made a strong comeback by winning the last five sets to claim the victory.
Shifters’ Avin James won three doubles sets alongside Amy Barton, Sanjai Nair and Clayton.
Amy Barton of Shifters also performed well throughout the game.
Ninja’ Luke Dunn started well by winning the first two doubles sets he played, but ended up on the losing side.
Johnny Joseph also won two doubles sets alongside Luke Dunn and Lachie Walker.
Result: Stuttle Shifters defeated Net Ninjas by six sets to 4, 13 games to 8 and 396 to 343 total points.
SEMI-FINALS - B GRADE
Team Drive just drove away the Drop Shot in the first semi-final.
Drive won three out of the first four doubles to set the tone of the game. The team then won the last doubles set to claim the victory before the sole singles set of the match.
Tojo Joseph of Drive claimed two doubles sets and a singles set against Carolyn Beggs by 21-9, 18-21 and 21-6.
Shot’s Sam Nurse pushed the Drive behind by winning two doubles sets alongside Taylah Johnson and Carolyn Beggs.
Result: Drive defeated Drop Shot by five sets to 2, 11 games to 6 and 326 to 283 total points.
In the second B Grade semi-final, Clear Shot outclassed Smash in the last set of the match.
The match came down to the final singles set, with the score tied three-three at the end of the double sets.
Smash’s Phoebe Whittaker and Clear Shot’s Mark Ngoi were competing for the match win, and Mr Ngoi defeated Ms Whittaker in straight sets by 21-8 and 21-10.
Mr Ngoi also won two doubles for his team.
Smash’s Laurie Liston won all three doubles sets, which he played alongside Aden Merrett, Harry Foster and Phoebe Whittaker.
Result: Clear Shot defeated Smash by four sets to 3, 9 games to 8 and 300 to 298 total points.
Shuttle Shifters and Clear Shot are strong contenders and can upset the ladder toppers, the Smash duo, in both A and B Grade Grand Finals.