Caithness well represented at badminton's Scottish International Masters
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Caithness Badminton Association was well represented at the Scottish International Masters in Glasgow last weekend.
The weekend kicked off with the Robert McCoig international match versus England on the Friday morning, with Mark Mackay (Dunnet) being selected to represent Scotland in playing in the 40s singles and men's doubles with Eion Ballantine (Orkney) after their success in December in the nationals.
Mark won his singles match but unfortunately they could not add another point to Scotland’s points tally with their men's doubles match ending in a 21-17, 21-15 loss. England were the eventual match winners.
The main competition got under way that afternoon with singles matches taking place from 35+ age group through to 65+ age group.
Caithness had two representatives in the 35+ group with both Martyn Cook and John Durrand winning a game each in their sections – a great start to their Masters campaign. Mark was playing in the 40+ age group and without dropping a set he managed to retain his title for the third year in a row.
Saturday saw the men's and ladies' doubles with Caithness having ladies' representation with Carole Begg in the 45+ age group alongside partner Karen Aitken from Edinburgh. They got off to a winning start but could not quite close out the second match, going down in two close sets to the top seeds.
John and Martyn teamed up for the 35+ doubles and after some excellent matches managed to come home with a silver medal, a huge achievement for their first Scottish International Masters.
Mark and Eion played in the 40+ age group and got off to a great start, winning their first three matches, but could not continue their form in the final and had to settle for the silver.
Day three of competition was the mixed doubles on the Sunday. Carole teamed up with Eion to play in the 40+ age group, which saw them in the same group as Mark who was playing with Sandra Watt (Edinburgh). Mark and Sandra managed to progress to a final but the title was not to be and they lost out 21-17, 21-19 to take home the silver, with Carole and Eion finishing in third place.
Martyn Cook teamed up with Laura Muir in the 35+ event, managing to win one game in their group and narrowly missing out on a place in the final (21-11, 15-21, 21-17).
It was fantastic for Caithness Badminton Association to be so well represented at this level.
