The Orkney Badminton Singles Championships 2013-2014
The Orkney Badminton Singles Championships were held on Wednesday 18th December. This year saw the largest entry for a number of years with 12 ladies and 13 men entered. Some of these were juniors which was great to see. The game of singles is not practiced often in Orkney so people were encouraged to give it a go, making it a much more enjoyable competition. Throughout the evening there were lots of exciting games.
The first round of the ladies saw several games close games with Lynda Russell and Lindsay Anderton having a tough 3-setter with Lindsay winning 21-11, 20-22, 21-15. Junior Emma Work showed she is a player to watch out for in the future by doing very well to beat her more experienced opponent Moira Nicolson 21-18, 21-19. She went on to have another close game against Joanne Pottinger. Emma’s good high serve and shot placement gave her opponent a tricky time, however Joanne came out winner 21-14, 18-21, 21-13, after being pushed all the way.
The first semi-final saw last year’s winner Rebecca Reid against ever improving Jane Hill. It was a hard hitting game but Rebecca’s singles experience saw her win 21-16, 21-12. In the other semi Joanne took on Ruth Flett. Joanne, having lost confidence in her high serve in the previous match, used her low backhand doubles serve which threw her opponent. Ruth stuck in and there was great movement on both sides of the court. Joanne won 21-15, 21-14.
The final saw old junior rivals Rebecca and Joanne meet for the first time in several years. It started evenly with Joanne’s fitness keeping up with Rebecca’s strength and excellent shuttle placement. Rebecca always had a slight 1 or 2 point lead however Joanne managed to fight to 19-19. Rebecca kept her cool during the last two long rallies to win the vital 2 points to take the first set 21-19. The second set saw Rebecca boost in confidence and take a large early lead. Her high accurate serving and hard hitting to the back of the court saw Joanne make weak replies - having completely ran out of steam! Rebecca took it 21-6 to win the title for the 5th time in a row – congratulations to her!
In the early stages of the men’s competition last year’s winner Eion Ballantine unfortunately had to retire due to injury, opening up this year’s competition. Junior Andrew Reid played a good game to overcome Marty Flett 21-15, 21-13. Then he was unlucky not to take Ross Groundwater to a third set after pushing him all the way in the second, with Ross winning 21-14, 23-21. Ronald Thomson proved he was not one to be underestimated giving last year’s finalist David Delday a tough quarter final game, playing consistently and forcing his opponent to make mistakes. David’s fitness prevailed and he pulled through 26-24, 22-20.
The first semi-final saw junior Liam Delday take on Ross Groundwater. Liam’s movement around the court is incredible and his unbelievable ability to keep returning the shuttle saw him overcome Ross’s excellent shuttle placement and experience to win 21-16, 21-18. The second semi saw Richard Bailey play David Delday. With both players being equally fit it was going to be who was the most consistent on the night that would pull through. Richard kept his nerve and built up his confidence to run away with the match in the third set, winning 21-18, 14-21, 21-8.
The final saw young Liam take on Richard, both in their first senior singles final. It was a very entertaining game for the spectators with incredibly long rallies and both players being stretched around the court. Richard began to dominate in the closing stages of the first set and won 21-16. Both players gave all they had left in the second with Liam fighting hard to get that shuttle back but Richard’s experience saw him push on to win 21-15. Richard has been working hard on his fitness and has been playing lots this season so it was a well-deserved victory. It was a brilliant achievement for 15 year old Liam to put on a spectacular performance at a high level and showed great sportsmanship too.
In the plate competition Moira Nicolson won the ladies, beating Alice Doull 21-10, 21-15, and making it a family affair, son Gary Nicolson won the men’s, beating Eric Sclater 21-13, 21-15.
Many thanks go to Jimmy Reid for his help on the desk on the night, keeping things running when the organisers were playing. Also, thank-you to everyone who entered, especially the juniors, students home from south, those who haven’t played in the competition before and those who needed a little persuading! Hopefully, everyone enjoyed themselves and this will be the start of more singles being played in Orkney. JP