Macclesfield’s Matthew Nottingham is determined to turn top spot into silverware when he competes in the National Badminton League Finals Day with his Surrey Smashers.
This year saw the inaugural National Badminton League get underway, Nottingham turning out for Surrey Smashers.
And the 22-year-old has certainly played his part, helping his side finish top of the table with just one loss from five games.
The hard work is not over yet though as Nottingham will now prepare himself for June 7 and Finals Day, with Surrey Smashers set to play fourth-placed Loughborough Sport for a spot in the showpiece later that day.
And with the honour of being the first players to lift this new piece of silverware up for grabs, Nottingham knows his side have won nothing yet.
“It’s been a really good season for us,” said Nottingham. “We started off with a good 4-1 win over MK Badminton and I do believe that set us on the way to topping the table at the end of the season.
“The last game against Birmingham was probably the highlight for me so far as we came from two sets down to win 3-2 in my game and then we ended up winning the match 4-1 to top the league.
“Sitting top of the league going into the play-offs does give us an advantage, especially a mental advantage over the other teams as they know we’ve only lost one game all season and we did beat Loughborough during the season.
“They will be wary of us but they’ll also come back fighting as well so we have to be wary. I’m really looking forward to it; it’s going to be a good game.”
And despite heading to Crawley as the team to beat, Nottingham is not about to take anything for granted against an unpredictable Loughborough Sport outfit.
“It means a lot to get to the play-offs, that was always the goal,” he added.
“We probably would have liked to have missed Loughborough and got someone else because their strengths match our weaknesses. It will be interesting. Anything can happen.
“It means a lot to reach the play-offs, it’s definitely where you want to be.”
The UK’s first ever National Badminton League (NBL) season comes to a thrilling conclusion on Sunday, 7 June, at K2 Crawley. Tickets are now available at nationalbadmintonleague.co.uk
Image courtesy of Badminton Photo with thanks.
