Sophie (11) makes Caithness badminton history with national title treble
Eleven-year-old Sophie Mackay has made history by becoming the first junior or senior badminton player from Caithness to win a national title.
And she did it in style by achieving victory in all three disciplines at the same event – the Scottish national championships for under-13 and under-17s, held in Glasgow.
Sophie, from Dunnet, was one of three players from Caithness competing at the Sir Craig Reedie Centre. Also taking part were Liam Sinclair (11), from Wick, and Ava Cook (15), from Dorrery.
The girls’ singles competition was played in three groups, with Sophie the top seed in Group A. She won all her games, easing into the semi-finals where she played Bhanu Duvvuri.
Sophie won 21-3, 21-11 to set up a final against Anvita Awasthi. The Caithness youngster took the first set 21-11, lost the second 21-14, then won the third convincingly 21-7 to claim her first national title.
Liam won 21-13, 21-16 against Jai Wilkes in the round of 32 in the boys’ singles. Next he saw off Arsh Arora 21-4, 21-9 to set up a quarter-final against the number one seed Yingfan Wang.
Yingfan took the win 21-6, 21-6 after Liam gave a strong performance.
The girls’ doubles competition was played as a round-robin with just three pairs. Sophie teamed up with Anvita Awasthi and they won their first game 21-16, 21-11 against Chloe Leask and Amie Roger.
The decider saw Sophie and Anvita coming up against Bhanu Duvvuri and Ava Li. Sophie and Anvita took the first set 22-20, lost the second 21-15, then came back to win the third 21-13 and claim the national title.
The boys’ doubles was played as two groups, then semi-finals and final.
Liam paired up with Aarav Sinha in the group stages. They won 21-12, 21-18 against Cyril Chim and Saitej Ganti, then lost to the number one seeds Yingfan Wang and James Huagh 21-16, 21-14.
They got through to the semi-finals where they played Saathvik Karthik Saravanan and Sumanth Prakash, with Saathvik and Sumanth winning 23-21, 21-11.
The mixed doubles took the form of two groups, then semi-finals and final.
Sophie and Yingfan Wang played together as the top seeds, with both on the hunt for their third national title of the weekend. Liam played with Amie Roger and they were all in Group A.
Liam and Yingfan won both their games, placing them in the semi-finals. Liam and Amie lost 21-6, 21-5 to Sophie and Yingfan and were beaten 21-19, 21-19 by Sumanth Prakash and Bhanu Duvvuri.
Sophie and Yingfan played Saathvik Karthik Saravanan and Anvita Awasthi in the semi-finals, with Sophie and Yingfan going through 21-9, 21-5.
Their opponents in the final were Aarva Sinha and Ava Li, with Sophie and Yingfan winning 21-14, 21-10 to make it a trio of national titles.
The under-17s saw Ava coming up against Iona Lin in the round of 16. After a slow start, losing the first set 21-15, Ava came back fighting to win the second and third 21-12, 21-13 respectively.
In the quarter-finals she was up against Elona Kennedy, the 3/4 seed, with Elona taking the win 22-20, 21-9.
Ava played with Annika Sihna for the first time in the girls’ doubles and they faced the second seeds Jaagruti Mannem and Shreya Vargheese in the quarter-finals. The seeded pair took the win 21-5, 21-8.
Ava played with Drew Murdoch for the first time in the mixed doubles. They were beaten 21-12, 21-2 by Shona Brown and Adam Li in the round of 16.
Caithness Junior Badminton Club secretary Kerry Mackenzie said: “Well done to all three players. It was fantastic to take part in the nationals and they all played so well.
“A huge well done to Sophie Mackay for putting Caithness on the map by winning three national titles. Her hard work, commitment and determination really showed.”
Sophie’s mum and coach Shona Mackay added: “It makes all the miles driven over the last few months for training and competition worth it when this is the end result.”
