Contents:- -Ladies Singles-|-Mens Singles-|-Ladies Doubles-|-Mens Doubles-|-Mixed Doubles-

Susan Hughes & Yuan Wemyss in the Ladies Singles final. (more photos below)

Having never been to see such an event and always threatening to travel the distance to watch the cream of Scottish Badminton, at their best, this was well worth the trip down the A9.

In all, if any of the youngsters need an extra part time job to help with their funding, I would suggest playing 'Morph' (Tony Hart's little plasticine model - older people might know who he is) in their film, if it happens - or giving Paul Daniels a shout, as magicians are always looking for humans with bodies that can curl, bend or twist to fit inside an object the size of a matchbox.

Most of these competitors are full time professionals, but they have to be. Their fitness levels, agility and knowledge around the court are what everyone aspires to have when playing this sport but to get to this level time and effort has to be spent nurturing and improving their techniques, six days a week. With this training you can see shuttles being retrieved from what looks like 'winners', young woman (16-18 year olds) smashing sweetly from the back line, tight net shots being picked out of the heart of the net, fast reactions, the list goes on.

Stand out players over the weekend.
In the Ladies section, it would be easy to point out Susan Hughes, who is definitely a contortionist and managed to lift the Ladies Singles title against her toughest opponent but Imogen Bankier's performances, especially in the mixed doubles, stood out. The young player is lighting fast at the net, perceives a players thoughts before they hit the shuttle and can cover ground well, which caused her mixed doubles opponents serious problems, constantly.
The Mens section seems to have a large group of young lads who are all very close to the same standard and battle away for places, in their own specific areas. Stand out was Gordon Thomson. A young, cheerie, battler who enjoys the sport both on and off the court. Although, losing the Mens Singles final to experienced Craig Goddard proved disappointing, his coverage around the court, retrieval and finishing - in the second game (final) and earlier rounds - can only be good points for himself and the future.

Congratulations to the Scottish coaches for developing an excellent bunch of enthusiastic young players, and with an average age of very early 20's, there is plenty of time for them to conquer the world.

Results

• Ladies Singles - Susan Hughes beat Yuan Wemyss - 11/7 - 11/6
• Mens Singles - Craig Goddard beat Gordon Thomson - 15/1 - 15/12
• Ladies Doubles - Yuan Wemyss' & Michelle Douglas beat Imogen Bankier & Emma Mason
• Mens Doubles - David Gilmour & Craig Robertson beat David Forbes & Stewart Kerr
• Mixed Doubles - Andrew Bowman & Kirsten McEwan-Miller beat Watson Briggs & Imogen Bankier - 13/15 - 15/6 - 15/9

Ladies Singles

Pictures below from the Ladies Singles' Final and Semi-Final rounds.

Mens Singles

Pictures below from the Mens Singles' Final and Semi-Final rounds.

Ladies Doubles

Pictures below from the Ladies Doubles Final and Semi-Final rounds.

Mens Doubles

Pictures below from the Mens Doubles Final, Semi-Final & Quarter Final rounds.

Mixed Doubles

Pictures below from the Mixed Doubles Final.

End-of-Document

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