Ortak Open - Season 2000-2001

The 2000 Ortak Orkney Open Badminton Championships was held recently in the Pickaquoy Centre. This is the fifth year the tournament has been held and once again attracted players from Caithness and Shetland.

Report kindly given by Calvin Reid - Orkney Badminton Association.

LADIES SINGLES

In the Ladies section Ann Wood from Shetland progressed to the final winning both her matches comfortably. The other half of the draw saw Carol Mowat from Caithness defeating Elaine Gray in their semi-final. Ann continued her good form in the final defeating Carol 11-4/11-1 to claim her third singles title.

• Ladies Plate
  The Ladies ‘Plate’ final was contested between Shetland player Karen Inkster and Moira Nicolson. After a hard fought three set game it was Karen won eventually prevailed by winning with a scoreline of 11-6/1-11/11-6.

MENS SINGLES

The first semi-final in the mens singles event saw red hot favourite Mark Mackay from Caithness take on local player Calvin Reid. Despite getting off to a good start Calvin could not contain the scottish internationalist from Caithness who went on to win the match 15-7/15-6.

The other semi-final saw James ‘Birdie’ Henderson from Caithness take on Shetlander Davie Thompson who had played well to reach this stage. James won in two close sets against his tired opponent who had earlier won a enthralling three set match against local singles champion Eion Ballantyne.

The final then was to be contested between doubles partners Mark and James. As expected Mark won in two sets but credit must go to James who put up a valiant effort and along the way quashed the popular theory that singles is a ‘young mans’ game.

• Mens Plate
  The men’s ‘Plate’ competition had many well known local sportsmen in it’s draw. These players are better known for competiting in other sports but it was good to see them entering this competition. It was one of those player’s, Kenny Low who eventually won the Men’s ‘Plate’ competition defeating Mark Clouston in a close final 15-9/15-13. Kenny is not a complete stranger to badminton as he played junior county many year’s ago but it was to great to see him strutting his stuff on the court again. Well done Kenny!

LADIES DOUBLES

The first semi-final in the Ladies doubles was contested between Ann Wood/Karen Inkster and Lynn.Cursiter/Caroline Vendy. After two sets which included lots of long rallies it was Ann and Karen who progressed to the final winning with a scoreline of 15-6/15-6.

The other semi-final saw Moira Nicolson and Elaine Gray take on defending champions Carol Mowat and Casey Sangster from Caithness. This was always going to be a good match as no one is sure who will win it as both sets of players have beaten each other in the past. After two close sets though it was the local pair of Moira and Elaine that won through to the final with a scoreline of 15-12/15-10.

The final was probably the best match of the day with Moira/Elaine pinching the first set 17-14. Ann and Karen then hit back strongly in the second set winning it convincingly 15-2. The third set saw Ann and Karen get off to an early lead but the Orkney pair of Nicolson/Gray managed to claw their way back into the game and level the score at 10/10. At this point the Shetlanders received serve and kept their cool to go on to win with a scoreline of 15/10. Both set of players played well in this game which had all watching enthralled with the quality of play and determination of the players.

• Ladies Doubles Plate
  The Ladies ‘Plate’ doubles was won by Katie Foulis and Kitty Work who defeated the junior pairing of Lyndsey Anderton and Lisa Johnston. Scoreline: 15-3/15-5.

MENS DOUBLES

The Mens Doubles Championship first semi-final was contested between James Henderson/Mark Mackay and Ross Groundwater/Eoin Ballantyne. The number one seeds Henderson/Mackay won in two sets with the scoreline being 15-8/15-9. This game had lots of long rallies in it and the local pair of Groundwater/Ballantyne did not lie down to their much fancied opponents and made them work hard for their win.

The other semi-final saw Bruce Wiliamson and Colin Grant from Shetland take on Stuart Slater and Calvin Reid. The latter pair managed to clinch the first set on the tie-break. The second set saw the Shetland pair make fewer mistakes and win the set 15-6. The final set was similar to the second set with Williamson/Grant progressing to the final winning the game 15-8.

The final started off closely as points were swapped back and fore but eventually the highly consistent play of the tall pairing of Mackay/Henderson started to tell as they won the first set 15-11. They then went on to take the title by winning the second set 15-8 in a fast and furious game.

• Mens Doubles Plate
  The Mens Doubles Plate was won by Shetlander Davie thompson and local player Trevor Kinghorn who defeated Duncan Montgomery and Calum Flett. Scoreline: 15-12/15-5.

MIXED DOUBLES

The first semi-final in the Mixed Doubles Championship saw favourites Carol Mowat/Mark Mackay defeat Elain Gray and Ross Groundwater in two sets. Elaine and Ross still had a good tournament though after winning two very tough previous round matches.

Ann Wood and Colin Grant progressed through to the final in the other semi-final as they had a good two set win against Jane Grant and James Henderson.

The final saw Carol and Mark winning the first set quite easily as Ann and Colin struggled to find their form. The same scenario continued in the next set with Carol and Mark serving at 14-6 to win the match. They didn't win the point and from here on Ann and Colin seem to find their better form as they played extremely well to level the scoreline and force a tie-break. During the tie-break Ann and Colin had a few serves to force a third set decider but alas could not quite find the winning shot. Carol and Mark deserved to win the match and during the following rally Ann hit the tape and it fell over onto the oppositions side only to witness Carol play an amazing recovery shot which left Ann struggling to hit the next shot-which she couldn’t quite manage thus giving the Mixed Doubles title to Carol and Mark.

PRESENTATION

The weekend competition was finished off with a presentation dinner/dance. Well done to Mark Mackay for completing the ‘treble’ and to Ann Wood for the ‘double’. Once again the Ortak Open proved popular with local and overseas players. This competition is the first event of the badminton calender and is now a recognized regular event in the north of Scotland. Orkney Badminton Association would like to thank Ortak for their continued generous sponsorship of the event, all the players who entered and especially the overseas ones.

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