Two doubles titles for Caithness players in Orkney badminton championships
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The senior badminton season drew to a close with six of the Caithness players – Shona Mackay, Lauren Gunn, Chloe Mackenzie, Mark Mackay, Martyn Cook and John Durrand – travelling across the Pentland Firth for the R Clouston Ltd Orkney Championships.
Over the weekend there were some outstanding games and nail-biting rallies. Level doubles, followed by mixed, took place on Saturday, then the singles on Sunday.
Shona and Lauren faced Chloe and partner Tayna Seator (Orkney) in the quarter-finals of the ladies' doubles, beating them 21-12, 21-7.
Shona and Lauren then defeated Orkney's Jody Groundwater and Rebecca Reid in the semi-finals, 21-8, 21-15, and in the final they beat Orkney juniors Shannon Leslie and Gemma Foulis 21-10, 21-12.
Chloe and Tanya took on the second seeds Joanna Pottinger and Alison Shearer in the consolation quarter-finals. After a close game they lost 21-18, 24-22.
John partnered Salim Ben Boudinar in the men's doubles and they won their quarter-final against Orkney pair Stephen Hill and David Delday 21-15, 21-13. They went on to face the number one seeds Andrew Reid and Ganesh Ram Balaji, with John and Salim losing 21-13, 21-16.
Caithness duo Mark and Martyn played Orkney's Matthew Reid and Gary Nicolson where they won 21-15, 21-16, securing a place in the semi-finals against young Shetland duo Thomas Calder and Joe Thomson. The Caithness pair won 21-11, 21-16 before losing in the final to Andrew and Ganesh, 21-15, 21-18.
Mark and Shona were on fire in the mixed doubles, not dropping a set all afternoon. They defeated Cady Denoon and Ian Moar (21-5, 21-5), Abigail Barrie and Thomas Calder (21-17, 21-9) and brother-and-sister duo Matthew and Rebecca Reid (21-17, 21-9) before taking on Shannon Leslie and Andrew Reid, both Orkney, in the final. The Mackays won it 21-17, 21-14.
Martyn and Lauren beat Sam Groundwater and Joanne Pottinger 13-21, 21-16, 21-13, then in the quarter-finals they were pipped by Andrew and Shannon, 21-17, 21-17.
John paired up with Inverness's Sophie Barrie with a close first game against Gary Nicolson and Gemma Foulis, both Orkney, winning it 21-16, 18-21, 21-17. In the quarter-finals John and Sophie beat Orkney's Ross Groundwater and Tanya Seator 21-11, 21-16, then lost out in the semis to the number two seeds Shannon and Andrew, 21-13, 21-15.
Chloe for the first time paired up with Shetland's Joe Thomson and played Matthew and Rebecca in their first game. The Reids won 21-9, 21-15, sending Chloe and Joe into the consolation where they gained a walkover to the semis, losing out to Orkney's Erlend Ballantine and Jody Groundwater by 21-16, 23-21.
Mark gave it his all in the men's singles but had to retire during his first game due to a back injury.
Shona played Rebecca in the first round of the ladies’ singles, with Shona winning 21-13, 21-7. Shona beat Sophie Barrie 21-16, 21-6 to secure a place in the final against Shannon.
Shona took the first set 21-17 and Shannon the second 21-18, leaving all to play for in the third with Shannon winning 21-16.
Young Chloe was beaten 21-16, 21-17 by Orkney's Joanne in the quarter-finals. In the consolation she played Orkney's Jody in the semi-finals, with Jody winning 21-15, 21-18.
Shona Mackay said: “It was another great weekend of badminton, showing how high the standard is in the north.”
