Mackays take home five gold medals from Scottish International Masters
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Mark and Shona Mackay added to their extensive hoard of silverware following their trip to the Scottish International Masters badminton championships at the weekend.
The Caithness couple returned with five gold medals and a silver from their foray to Glasgow to play in the competition open to 35s and over.
Earlier, Mark, along with Thurso's Jane Grant, played for Scotland in the annual Masters joust versus England at the city's Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Centre on Friday evening.
Mark, who has just turned 48, won all his 11 matches at the championships to lift the 35-40 men's singles and 45-50 men's doubles titles and partnered Shona to win the 35-40 mixed.
Shona (36) was the women's singles champion and, with her partner Kathryn MacGregor, runner-up in the women's doubles, both in the 35-40s.
Mark's idea to test himself in the younger age group of the singles backfired after two of his scheduled opponents withdrew at the last minute, meaning he played just one game.
He said: "I'd hoped I would get harder games but after I played my first game, the next guy I was due to play didn't turn up and the other scratched.
"That was disappointing but the doubles were very competitive and very enjoyable."
His biggest test was in the final of the men's doubles.
He and Craig Lamb, long-time doubles partners in Masters events, scored straight sets to win their three group matches before facing English duo Keith Monte-d'Cruz and Jinesh Shah in the final.
The latter took the first set 21-12 but Mackay and Lamb battled back to level before prevailing 21-18 in the decider.
The success is particularly memorable for 50-year-old Lamb, from Haddington, who has made an astonishing recovery after suffering a stroke in 2015 triggered by a previously undetected hole in his heart.
Mark and Shona defeated Irish, Scottish and Scottish/English combos to top their group in the mixed.
The pair, who run a farm in Scarfskerry, then defended their title with a 21-13, 21-9 victory over MacGregor and Keith Campbell in the final.
Shona and MacGregor found one too strong for them in the women's doubles, losing 21-19, 7-21, 10-21 to fellow Scots Jody Barral and Frances McClure.
Shona, meanwhile, defeated Scot Laura Muir in straight sets to secure the singles title.
Grant picked up a silver in the 65-70 singles after a backs-to-the-wall 21-19, 16-21, 21-16 win against Ursula Heale, from England.
The 66-year-old former teacher went on to lose out in the gold medal match to number one seed Christine Black, from Scotland, 22-24, 11-21.
Earlier, Mark had won in the over-40s singles and doubles of the international while Grant had lost in the 60-65 singles.
England maintained their perfect record in the competition after they prevailed 22-15 over the seven age groups.
The Mackays' success came hard on the heels of them teaming up to win the mixed title at the Dunfermline Open, an "A" grade open tournament, earlier this month.
They now have their sights set on the Glasgow Open at the end of next month and the Caithness Invitational event in Wick on March 3/4.
