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​Baxter joy as Surrey Smashers stamp authority

Surrey Smashers produced the first 5-0 win in the inaugural National Badminton League with a superbperformance over Team Derby in front of another 1,000 sell out at Surrey Sports Park inMatch Night 4. 

Carl Baxter proved the hero for the Guildford franchise as hebeat Rajiv Ouseph, best man at his wedding, for the first time in his careerand secure the home win on the night.

In the bottom-of-the-tableclash, University of Nottingham Badminton won their first match of the season against Loughborough Sport, who are still looking for their first victory. 

Meanwhile, Milton Keynes Badminton wontheir first home match against previously unbeaten Birmingham Lions. MKBadminton led 3-0 to take the win, but with every match counting towardsend-of-season points, Birmingham's last two rubber wins could prove crucial.

Surrey's searing win kept them topof the table with two Match Nights to go before June's finals.

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM BADMINTON 4-1 LOUGHBOROUGH SPORT

UON Badminton broke theirNBL duck thanks to a fine start against visitors Loughborough. Rob Blair andChloe Magee held off a spirited fight back as Marcus Ellis and Jenny Wallworkcame from 2-0 down to force a tie-break. Olga Konon and Kieran Merrillees bothwon their singles' rubbers for Nottingham, while Chris Adcock and Adam Hall came from a game down to beat Peter Briggs and Harley Towler. The win was Adcock's first of the season.

Rob Blair/Chloe Magee 3-2Marcus Ellis/Jenny Wallwork
Olga Konon 3-1 Linda Zetchiri
Kieran Merrillees 3-0 Greg Mairs
Carissa Turner/Alex Langley 0-3 Lauren Smith/Chloe Birch
Chris Adcock/Adam Hall 3-2 Peter Briggs/Harley Towler

SURREY SMASHERS 5-0 TEAM DERBY

Carl Baxter was left intears after clinching his first career win against career-long rival and bestfriend Rajiv Ouseph. Baxter came back superbly from 2-0 down to beat Ouseph 4-1in the deciding tie-break and seal the win on the night.

Earlier, MatthewNottingham and Gabby Adcock “executed the perfect game plan” to give unbeatenSmashers a fine start with a 3-1 win in the mixed doubles. Eefje Muskens and EmilyWestwood then came back superbly from 2-0 down to take their match on a tie-break5-2. Rising Dutch star Soraya De Visch Eijbergen then beat Karin Schnaase forthe first time in her career 3-1, leaving Dean George and Chris Langridge toseal a triumphant 5-0 home win.

Surrey's Carl Baxter : “I don't know how I didit. I don't know what to say. I have never beaten Raj before after 10 years oftrying and throughout my whole career and I was in awe of what he was doing.”

Surrey's coach, Hayley Connor , on 5-0 win: "It feels amazing and I'm in shock. I never thought it would be 5-0 and we seem to be doing nothing wrong as far as the home crowd is concerned. And that is what it's all about."

Matthew Nottingham/GabbyAdcock 3-1 Martin Campbell/Gail Emms
Eefje Muskens/Emily Westwood 3-2 Kate Robertshaw/Lydia Powell
Carl Baxter 3-0 Rajiv Ouseph
Soraya De Visch Eijbergen 3-1 Karin Schnaase
Dean George/Chris Langridge 3-0 Andy Ellis/Chris Coles

MILTON KEYNES BADMINTON 3-2 BIRMINGHAM LIONS

MK Badminton surged tovictory in front of a home sell out to record their second victory and firsthome win of the inaugural season. Toby Penty and Jess Pugh continued theirunbeaten start to their NBL careers in the mixed doubles with a convincing winover Nico Ruponen and Alyssa Lim. Jess Fletcher and Sophie Sankey ran out easywinners in their women's doubles, before Sam Parsons, the 2014 nationalrunner-up, just held off Ben Beckman to make sure of the rubber.

Sam Parsons on securing the victory on the night for MK Badminton:  "I  feel great; there was quite a lot of pressure on me there. I did well to handle the pressure, especially at 1-0 down in the fifth. I was expecting to win but Ben's a good player, he's got some really great shots and is very experienced.

Fontaine Chapman , Birmingham Lions: "I'm really happy, I was a little bit nervous going into that because the last time we played she (Liz) beat me so I knew it was going to be a bit of a battle. I wanted to win for the team so there is always that added self pressure but I am so happy to get a point for our team.

“Every point counts, even though we lost this match, we can still get points and hopefully make our way into the top four for the finals."

Toby Penty/Jess Pugh 3-1Nico Ruponen/Alyssa Lim
Jess Fletcher/Sophie Sankey 3-0 Heather Olver/Jess Hopton
Sam Parsons 3-1 Ben Beckman
Liz Cann 1-3 Fontaine Chapman
Peter Mills/Paul van Rietvelde 1-3 Koen Ridder/Gary Fox

The penultimate NBL evening,Match Night 5, will take place on 23 March.

Full Match Night 4 resultscan be found  here

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