Ortak Open - Season 2003-2004 - 01/11/03

Intro

Oh what a weekend it was..... Who needs badminton when you can dance the night away in a hidden little nightclub, upstairs from Fusion, to some pop-tastic 80's tunes, lie back in the sumptuous leather sofa's, have a 'teet' at all the voluptuous dancing maidens (with one eye) and all of this under a candle lit surrounding that big clubs in Glasgow & Edinburgh would die to own. Get yourself up there and sample the Orkney crack....... Jesus, I should be charging for reviews and advertising like this.....

Well, suppose I better say something about the badminton now.

Here goes. In all fairness, without sounding arrogant, due to the low turnout of competitors, I think I can safely say that most people new who the winners were going to be, over the weekend event.
Five hardy competitors and one Ortak Open specialist came from Caithness and four travelled the long journey from Shetland.

Thanks to Calvin Reid for the results, from this point on, taken from the OBA website - although I have added a few bits and bobs, here and there......

Men's Singles

After a dodgy trip over the Firth and a few detours on the way, all orchestrated by 'broken wrist', I would like to point out - Mark Mackay (Scotland Badminton kiddie) had the potential to be beaten.
Callum Flett was the first Gladiator, and although he put in a very creditable performance, went down 15-12 15-10.
Adam Bews convincingly beat Marty Flett (who beat Adam comfortably last year) 15-1, 15-6 in the first round.
He then produced the performance of the night beating Davie Thomson (the number two seed from Shetland) 15-6 15-9, in the semi-final.
In the other semi-final, Calvin Reid pushed Mark Mackay all the way, narrowly losing 15-8 17-14.

Anyone might have been forgiven for thinking the final would be a lamb to the slaughter match with young Adam taking on the might of Mackay, but this certainly was not the case, as Adam once again covered the court very well and put in a composed, mature performance which often had Mark scrambling. Experience showed and Ratter took the title 15-12 15-5.

Ladies Singles

Orkney doubles partners became opponents as Elaine Gray did battle with partner Moira Nicolson and Cath Bremner scrapped it out with partner Karen Kent. Both matches were close, with Moira and Karen being victorious in each match 13-12 13-11 and 7-11, 13-11, 11-6, respectively.
Carole Mowat disposed of Karen Kent in the semi-final, 11-1 11-2.
Moira's victory over Elaine had given her the opportunity to take on Carole in the final.
Moira competed well at the start, but Carole was in good form and had just too many shots in her bag as she won 11-2 11-1 to take the title.

Men's Doubles

Two Orkney pairs, a Caithness pair and a Shetland pair provided the semi-final line up for the men's doubles, but unfortunately for the Orcadians, it was the others who would progress to the final.
Stuart Slater and Calvin Reid, who are never at their best in early morning matches, struggled to find any rhythm in their match and lost out to Shetland's Kevin Smith and Jason Jamieson 15-2 15-9.

Eoin Ballantyne and Ian Gorn competed well against Mark Mackay and 'Birdie' Henderson but lacked consistency on the vital points and lost 15-12 15-10.

In the final Kevin and Jason started very nervously, losing the first set 15-5. They then upped the tempo taking the second 15-13. Mark and Birdie then regained control winning 15-8 in the third set to take the title and to prove that Northern (mainland) bhoys like their gravy.......

Ladies Doubles

Orkney's 'veteran' contingent of Elaine Gray and Moira Nicolson against Cath Bremner and Karen Kent contested the first semi-final. Moira and Elaine took control of this match, winning 15-7, 15-9.
Loraine Bradley and Elspeth McLellan took the favourites from Caithness to three sets before losing 15-5, 6-15, 15-5 to Carole Mowat and Casey Sangster.

Moira and Elaine, desperate to get their names engraved on this trophy, once again ended up the bridesmaids as a dominant Carol & Casey controlled the game, paving the way for a 15-9, 15-5 - Caithness victory.

This was a monumental achievement by the Caithness girls - as just one week prior to the trip KC Sangster's wrist had been just removed from plaster, which was broken in two places due to a freak accident while performing some break dancing moves on a dance floor in Thurso.

Mixed Doubles

The mixed competition was split into four qualifying groups, with the winner of each group making up the semi-finals. There were many good matches in the group stages, with the pick of the bunch being a gruelling 80 minute match (?????) between Loraine Bradley and Stuart Slater and Elaine Gray and Calvin Reid. It was Loraine and Stuart who edged the game 15-11, 11-15, 17-14, but the victory paid its price as Loraine was unable to continue to the semi-final due to an ankle injury picked up during the titanic struggle.

Ian Gorn managed to upset the wife as he and Moira Nicolson ground out a victory in an entertaining game against Vicky Gorn and Eoin Ballantyne 15-13, 10-15, 15-9.

Ian and Moira started well in their semi-final against Kevin Smith and Casey Sangster, winning the first set 15-11, but were unable to keep the pressure on as Kevin and Casey began to get better and won the next two sets 15-5, 15-7.

The other semi-final was a walkover, with Loraine unable to continue, allowing Mark Mackay and Carole Mowat to take their place in the final against Kevin Smith and Casey Sangster.
Mark and Carole were always going to be huge favourites, and so it proved, as they both completed their trebles with a 15-6, 15-10 win.

Thanks go to all the overseas players for making the journey and enhancing the quality of the tournament and to Ortak for their generous sponsorship once again. I.G.

Winners

• Mens Singles - Mark Mackay - Caithness
  • Mens Singles Plate - Calum Flett - Orkney
• Ladies Singles - Carole Mowat - Caithness
  • Ladies Singles Plate - Kath Bremner - Orkney
• Mens Doubles - Mark Mackay & James Henderson - Caithness
  • Mens Doubles Plate - Stevie Harvey - Orkney - Davie Thompson - Shetland
• Ladies Doubles - Carole Mowat & Casey Sangster - Caithness
  • Ladies Doubles Plate - Elspeth McLellan and Lorraine Bradley - Orkney
• Mixed Doubles - Mark Mackay & Carole Mowat - Caithness

Photos

Mens Singles Final - Mark Mackay beat Adam Bews	Ladies Singles Final - Moira Nicolson lost to Carole Mowat	Mens Doubles Final Winners - M Mackay & J Henderson
Ladies Doubles Winners - Casey Sangster & Carole Mowat	Mixed Doubles Winners - Carole Mowat & Mark Mackay	Mixed Doubles Runners-Up - Casey Sangster & Kevin Smith
Ladies Singles Plate - Kath Bremner beat Jane Grant	They just wanted their picture taken together - aaaahhh...	THE ORGANISER - Ian Gorn

Mens Singles Final - Mark v Adam

Ladies Doubles Final - Casey & Carole v Moira & Elaine

Mens Doubles Final - Jason & Kevin v Mark & Bird

Mixed Doubles Final - Mark & Carole v Casey & Kevin

Bird & Jane v Elspeth & Flett	Bird & Jane v Kevin & Casey
An ALL Orkney Mixed Doubles	Calv & Fox battle it out with their partners

The Thompson Pair v Vicky & Onion

New Shoes...... Who would wear a pair of loafers like that...???	A rare sight at any badminton trip and was worth a pic - Jane eating.	HAIL - HAIL a Celt was there... Good to see a Tim lashing at it.
The extremes that some people will go to, to beat the camera capabilities of 'eBIGH cameraman. Must try harder, I will put on this Orkney snapper's report card but good effort.

End-of-Document