From left:   Bene Gibson, Rachel Galvin, Tilly Ip, Lily Parsons, Emily Yates.

On Thursday 13th February Caterham School Senior Girls badminton team won the Surrey county finals of the Centre Parcs National Schools Badminton Competition. The county finals involve all the teams who are district champions in Surrey, so the standard of competition is very high.

Caterham had to win three matches to reach the semi-finals and they played very well to achieve three victories at 5-0 each. In their semi-final they met Weydon School, who were runners up from group 2.

With some great doubles play from the team they beat them to secure another 5-0 win. The final was against Sir William Perkin’s School who were playing superbly well. After the first round of matches they were drawing 1-1, losing one match on sudden death.

Caterham then went 2-1 up before Sir William Perkin’s School came back to win the fourth game 19-21. The ‘BadCats’ rallied and won the final game 21-8. They will now represent Surrey in the Regional Finals in March. Head of Girls’ Games, Mrs Natalie Lomas said: “The standard of play that these four Fifth Year students produced was outstanding. They had to overcome a very skillful, competitive team and managed to remain focussed despite being under considerable pressure. They played excellent, fast paced badminton with some amazing winning smashes and light touches. I am delighted for them.”