We love it when a plan comes together.
Too little too late perhaps, but Combined 2 are coming into
form with a third win in four games. We moved into the automatic promotion
positions on our own yet incredibly remain favourites to go down with Abbeydale
3, potentially even with a 50/50 record for the season if we win our final game
in April. I bet no side has ever gone down with even a 40/60 record before (our
worst-case scenario) let alone a 50/50 one.
We’d been stuffed 8-1 at home by this impressive team, and expected to face
the identical six (which we did). We therefore tried the concept of marginal
gains by improving on a whole series of things in tiny ways to get us an
overall strong improvement and the win.
Picking, planning, preparation, performance and perseverance
were all targeted for an improvement.
First I picked a side to target 5 specific rubbers where I
felt we could win. Prithvi and Arun were put in specific positions to target the
most winnable rubbers, accompanied by 2 mixed specialist ladies in Jane and
Yimin. Ruth and I made up the set, me for the sole benefit of a game with
Prithvi that I thought we would win.
Preparation was important so most of the team knew who they
were playing with the day before the game, rather than turning up on the night
and trying to figure out a new partner minutes before taking to the court with
them.
Performance though was the most important, and those 5
rubbers we targeted were all won.
Prithvi and Steve got us off to a flyer with a dominant win
to 12 and 14 that felt like we had played together for years rather than being
our first rubber in anger together. Arun’s three games all gave us palpitations,
first coming from behind with Prithvi to take a tight mens rubber in three
ends, then winning a mixed 22-20 before finally coming from behind again to win
another mixed in three ends, 21-19 in the third end. The perseverance of our
two guys is legendary and more befitting professional sport than amateur!
Prithvi and Jane won their mixed too, so Jane and Yimin also
played starring roles. We knew the other four rubbers would be tough because
Oakbrook first team have both strong male mixed players and strong ladies’
players. We lost them as expected but not without all of us exceeding
expectations and coming close on occasions.
Credit also to Ruth (and me) for agreeing to sit off for 2
hours in between our level doubles match and our two mixed so that Arun could go
off on hospital responsibilities.
Credit to all the team for putting up with my obsessive strategizing
in a desperate and probably futile bid to stave off relegation. Credit too for
Oakbrook for very sportingly letting us play out of order for Arun’s benefit
due to us not realising the match would go onto one court.
Player of the Match –
Prithvi (3 out of 3, with two in straight ends)