PICTURES: Treble joy for Chloe and Arran in Caithness under-17 badminton championships
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Chloe Mackenzie and Arran Johnson each secured a treble in Caithness Badminton Association's under-17 championships at the East Caithness Community Facility in Wick.
Twenty-two competitors took part, 12 girls and 10 boys. Once again, as with previous weekends' under-11, under-13 and under-15 championships, there were some excellent games and rallies, with all competitors showing good sportsmanship throughout.
Organisers were keen to thank all the helpers and Highland Workwear for sponsoring the event.
The girls' singles competition was played as an elimination, so those losing their first match would go into the consolation.
In the main draw semi-finals, Chloe Mackenzie (Ormlie) took on Ashlyn Gunn (Wick), with Chloe securing her place in the final 15-3, 15-2, while Antonia Beattie (Wick) lost out 15-8, 15-9 to Ormlie's Ava Cook.
That made it an all-Ormlie final, with Chloe winning 15-3, 15-9 to retain her singles title from last year’s championships.
The consolation final saw Rebecca Henderson (Ormlie) getting the better of Freya Mackay (Wick) 15-10, 15-9.
The boys followed the same process as the girls.
In the main draw singles semi-finals, Arran Johnson (Ormlie) defeated young Rory Nicolson (Wick) 15-7, 15-3, while Lewis Malcolm – the U15 winner from the previous weekend – had the upper hand over Wick’s Ronin Kean, winning 15-12, 5-15, 15-6.
Arran won a well-fought final 17-15, 15-10.
The consolation final was an almighty three-setter as Ormlie’s Matthew Cook came out on top against Wick's Alexander Mackay by 9-15, 15-13, 15-11.
The doubles followed the format of two groups of three, then play-offs, with the top two in each pool playing in semi-finals and the bottom ones going into the consolation.
In the first of the main draw semi-finals, Chloe Mackenzie and Ava Cook (both Ormlie) defeated Wick duo Freya Mackay and Hallie Bremner 15-5, 15-2. Wick’s Chloe Begg and Ormlie’s Rebecca Henderson won 7-15, 15-12, 15-10 against Wick’s Anna Durrand and Antonia Beattie.
The final resulted in a 15-3, 15-7 victory for Chloe M and Ava.
Wick’s Ashlyn Gunn and Dunnet’s Lexie Mackenzie won 6-15, 15-9, 15-11 against Wick’s Blayr Howden and Erna Thain in the consolation final.
The boys’ doubles had a round-robin format with the five pairs playing each other. It was so close between the runners-up and winners that it went down to games and points won or lost.
Winners were Matthew Cook and Arran Johnson (both Ormlie), ahead of runners-up Alexander Mackay and Lewis Malcolm (both Wick), with Wick duo Rory Nicolson and Angus Mackay finishing third.
The mixed followed the same format as the singles.
The first of the main draw semi-finals saw Ormlie’s Chloe Mackenzie and Arran Johnson defeating Wick’s Alexander Mackay and Freya Mackay 15-4, 15-4, then Ormlie’s Ava Cook and Matthew Cook overcame Wick’s Qida Du and Antonia Beattie 15-8, 15-11.
Arran and Chloe won 15-7, 16-14 in the all-Ormlie final.
There was a nail-biting finish in the consolation final as the older duo of Chloe Begg and Ronin Kean emerged as winners by 16-14, 15-17, 24-22 against Ashlyn Gunn and Rory Nicolson who are both under-13s and qualified to play at U15 level then again in the under-17s.
