Badminton: winner for its return to National 3, OBC Nîmes was not far from a surprise

The joy of the Nîmes women and men, winners of the Smuc. MIDI LIBRE – E. DZ.

Le double mixte Zoé Jurquet-Fayolle/Sébastien Plancon, ici avec l’entraîneur-joueur Swann Michel, a créé la surprise. MIDI LIBRE – E. DZ.

Nationale 3/1re journée. Les Nîmois ont battu le Smuc Marseille dans le duel des promus. Récit d’un long suspense.

OBC Nîmes 5 – Smuc Marseille 3
Gymnase Audoyer, Vallon, Nîmes.
Referees: MM. Teil and Sayer.

0-1 Smuc : Laurine and Romane Parathias (sisters, R4 and R5) lose against Océane Gravier/Cassandre Vedel (N3 and R4) 13-21, 23-25.
1-1  : Lounes Gharbi/Swann Michel (N2 and N3) beat Pierre Gassion/Thibaut Zypinoglou (N3 and N3) 21-15, 18-21, 21-12.
2-1 Nîmes : Zoé Jurquet-Fayolle (N3) beats Amandine Pero (N3) 21-17, 10-21, 23-21.
< strong>3-1 Nîmes : Thomas Combis (N3) beats Pawel Gontarz (N3) 9-21, 21-18, 21-19.
3-2 : Romane Parathias (R5) loses to Océane Gravier (N3) 14-21, 21-19, 17-21.
3 -3 : Gharbi (N2) loses against Emilien André-Tellier (N3) 21-18, 17-21, 20-22.
< strong>4-3 Nîmes : Sébastien Plancon/Jurquet (N3/R4) beat Gassion/Julie Dumont (N2/N3) 21-17, 21-14.
5-3 Nîmes : Combis/Célia Maria-Moreno (N3/R5) beat André/Vedel (N3/N3) 21-23, 21-18 , 21-19.

What an afternoon, what suspense, what emotions and what a victory! After almost four hours of play, OBC Nîmes won the duel of the promoted teams from group 5 for their return to National 3. A success that could be worth a lot in the fight for survival.

“We showed that we were there. There was real team cohesion”, summed up Arnaud Cooren and Tristan Bellosta, respectively president and vice-president of the Gard club.

Victory and anniversary

Far from being favorites on paper, the Nîmes team logically lost the first of the eight matches before winning the next three, each time in the deciding set. But at the moment when they saw themselves winning, they almost lost everything, with the Provençaux coming back to snatch 3 wins all.

Higher ranked at the start of the two final mixed doubles, the Marseillais glimpsed victory. But the OBC created two nice surprises to win 5-3, with the youngsters Zoé Jurquet-Fayolle and Thomas Combis as heroes, two points each brought. "It couldn't have started better. At the end, I couldn't feel anything, neither my legs nor my heart. I won mentally!", confided Zoé, 17 years old.

Swann Michel, the coach, could offer Thomas, 22, a birthday cake. We were not far from a surprise!

Coach Swann Michel brought a surprise cake for Thomas Combis, 22, who is also one of the heroes of the day with two successes. MIDI LIBRE – E. DZ.

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