The Scottish Disability Sport Lothian Disability Badminton Championship provided a feast of competition and tensely-fought encounters on Saturday, with titles galore being won in Edinburgh.

It was hosted at Napier University by Lothian Disability Badminton Club and Scottish Disability Sport, and run by Roselind and Alistair Hall with support from David Gillespie as well as volunteers from Edinburgh University.

And the action itself saw some excellent badminton on show with some truly eye-catching individual performances giving fans a terrific spectacle.

Michael McCraw defeated Murrie Robertson in two games in the final of the LD men’s singles Division 1 final.

After defeating McCraw 21-18 in the round robin earlier in the day, Robertson lost out in the final as his opponent sealed a 22-20 21-12 victory.

It was Mahesh Bhatt who was left celebrating in Division 2 after battling past Dean Bernard 16-21 21-19 21-11.

Bhatt had to come from behind against Bernard, who started the quicker despite losing to his opponent in the round robin stage. Bhatt’s only defeat came in the round robin at the hands of Derek Tomkinson.

In Division 3, Ross Doig found an extra gear as he defeated Alistair Daniels in the final, in three games.

Daniels had looked the strongest player in the competition and had topped Group A in qualifying, with Doig finishing second after Daniels had beaten him 21-17 in the round robin.

And the two met again in the final but it was Doig who seized his moment, sealing a 21-16 19-21 21-6 success.

Diane Gillan dominated the LD women’s singles Division 1 throughout the competition, dropping just 22 points across all her matches.

Qualification successes against Louisa Ramsay (21-6) and Caitlyn De Souza (21-1) set up a semi-final clash with Jaz McNeil.

However, she powered through 21-3 and had the beating of Kerry Duncan in the final, sealing victory with a 21-8 21-4 scoreline.

In the women’s Division 4 singles it was Emma Stewart who claimed the glory – winning two from two against Sharon Munro and Claire Jeffray to seal top spot in qualification standings.

Pitted against Munro in the final, Stewart overcame her spirited opponent 21-9 21-15 to take the title, while Mary Wilson was too good for Laura Halil in the standing ladies combined final, the former sealing a 21-11 21-19 victory.

Colin Leslie got the better of Rory McLaren in the SL3 singles, Leslie taking the first game 21-11 before edging a closer second 21-15.

While in the SL4 singles, Jamie Munro was no match for David Purdie, who looked comfortable throughout as he secured a 21-8 21-11 triumph.

The SS6 singles threw up some tasty ties, but ultimately it was Bobby Laing who would prove to be a cut above the rest of the field, winning without conceding a game.

He topped his qualification group with two wins from two, dropping just 16 points in the process, to set up a semi-final against Jack Purvis.

Purvis was beaten 21-4 21-5, with Andrew Davies awaiting Laing in the final, having enjoyed three wins from three in his own qualification group before battling past Ross Foley in a three-set semi-final encounter.

But despite proving to be Laing’s sternest test of the tournament, Davies fell just short with the former triumphing 21-9 21-9. Laing would also go on to beat Leslie in the standing combined final 21-17 21-14.

The LD men’s doubles saw Grant Hunter and James Pert prevail, beating Kevin Dobson and McCraw 21-17 21-18 in the final after finishing as the top two pairings in Division 1.

While Gregor Hardie and Peter Sabine beat Doig and Campbell Reynolds 21-16 16-21 21-13 in the Division 2 doubles final and Becca O’Callaghan and Ramsay won the women’s doubles by beating Duncan and Stewart 21-18 9-21 21-18.

The combined mixed doubles saw a victory for Leslie and Wilson, beating Munro and Halil 21-4 21-12, while Pert and Gillan topped the LD mixed doubles Division 1 after four wins from four.

The final three categories saw mixed doubles Division 3 success for Hardie and Jeffray as they beat Reynolds and De Souza 21-19 15-21 21-14.

In the SS6 doubles combined it was Foley and Davies who took the glory with a 21-8 21-11 win over Finlay Davidson and Purvis in the final, while Leslie and Purdie got a walkover in their standing combined doubles final as Laing and Munro could not take to the court.

sportscotland looking for a group of young people to speak up for sport and work with them and Young Scot to help influence and shape sport in Scotland. Are you or do you know know someone who has got what it takes to speak up for sport? Please encourage them to apply online at www.sportscotland.org.uk/sportpanel, we would love to hear from them!

Applications will close at noon on Thursday 22^nd February 2016

sportscotland are looking for young people who are:

• Living in Scotland
• Aged between 14 – 23
• Passionate about sport
• Able to commit 3 hours a week on a voluntary basis
• Want to make a difference

Applications are welcome from young people from a wide range of backgrounds including SIMD areas and those with protected characteristics.

The work of the sport panel

Being part of the sport panel is a great opportunity for a young person; over the years the experience has made a positive difference to the lives of past and present panel members and they have made an important contribution to Scottish sport. The sport panel have been involved in a range of activities supporting the development of projects that help improve sport in schools, clubs and communities, attending and contributing to workshops and conferences to influence decision making and creating content for the web and social media to raise the profile of sport. You can follow the work of the Young People’s Sport Panel on social media using #sportpanel. More information is available at: www.sportscotland.org.uk/sportpanel-projects

What do members of the current panel have to say about it?

“Being part of the sport panel is an incredible opportunity, to be able to work with other young people and really be part of influencing change for young people in sport in Scotland. Its so inspiring to know you are making a positive difference for others.” Kirsty

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS), Bowls Scotland and Team Scotland, are disappointed to confirm that Para Lawn Bowls athlete Martin Hunter has been forced to withdraw from the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games due to personal circumstances. Martin has been a stalwart of the Scottish Para Lawn Bowls Team for many years enjoying considerable success on the international stage, including a B7 Men’s Singles gold medal at the 2015 IBD World Championships.

SDS is delighted to announce that Garry Brown will step up to join the Open B6/B7/B8 Triples. Garry has a wealth of experience in Para Lawn Bowls having been a member of the Scottish Team that competed at the IBD World Championships in 2011 and 2015 and is also the reigning Scottish Indoor Champion. Garry is a fierce competitor who will also call on his previous international experience in the sports of swimming and football.  His passion, enthusiasm and technical ability will complement his fellow Open B6/B7/B8 Triples team mates, debutant Mike Nicoll, and Michael Simpson, who returns after taking 4th place at Glasgow 2014.

Gavin Macleod, SDS CEO said: “We are all massively disappointed for Martin at this time but in Garry Brown we have a readymade replacement who will grasp the opportunity to represent Team Scotland at the Gold Coast Games with both hands. Garry is a team player with a wealth of experience within international sport as well as being one of Scotland’s top Para Lawn Bowlers. This selection will realise his dream to compete at a Commonwealth Games and everyone at SDS wishes him and the rest of the squad all the best in their preparation for Gold Coast 2018.”

 

SDS is also delighted to announce that Eric McMillan will join Team Scotland as Para-Bowls Assistant Team Manager and Coach for Gold Coast 2018. Eric has extensive experience within the sport having been on the coaching team at the 2015 IBD World Championships and Head Coach at the 2015 CPISRA World Games. We welcome Eric to Team Scotland and wish him every success for Gold Coast 2018.

Brits Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett reached their fifth Grand Slam men’s doubles final together on Thursday at the Australian Open when the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions beat Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina and Shingo Kunieda of Japan 6-1, 4-6, (10-6).

Top seeds Reid and Hewitt will face French second seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer in Friday’s final at Melbourne Park.

Hewett and Reid put the disappointment of bowing out of the men’s singles on Wednesday’s first day of wheelchair tennis competition firmly behind them as they reeled off six games in a row to take the first set. Although they were unable to wrap up the second set from 3-0 up, they were never behind in the deciding match tie-break and completed victory after an hour and 23 minutes.

“It feels good to be in a final again and have another opportunity to showcase what we can do on a tennis court, but I think the main satisfaction for us is how we played, especially in that first set and a half and the enjoyment we had on court and the teamwork we showed,” said Reid, who completed a career Grand Slam of doubles titles in Melbourne last year, when he and Hewett were on opposite sides of the net in the final.

“We said no matter what happened we wanted to go out there and enjoy ourselves and work as a team. To come out after yesterday and play some of the tennis we did in that first set and a half was just incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed it out there today,” said Hewett, who partnered Fernandez in last year’s Australian Open final, when Reid and Belgium’s Joachim Gerard came out on top.

Should Reid and Hewett win the trophy on Friday it would seal a first British Grand Slam title of the year. That would continue a run of unprecedented success for players on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Performance Programme that saw Great Britain win seven Grand Slam titles in 2017 after a record medal haul at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

 

Selected for his second Games, powerlifter Micky Yule will be looking to make the step onto the podium after a fourth place finish at Glasgow 2014. Previously a competitor for the Army Weightlifting team, he was injured by an improvised explosive device while serving with the Scots Royal Engineers in 2010. After a year out to recover from his injuries, he returned to training, becoming the first Scot to compete at a Commonwealth Games in Para-Sport Powerlifting. He was also the first British athlete to win gold at the 2016 Invictus Games, taking titles in both 2014 and 2016. After several injury setbacks in 2017, he is on the comeback trail and, if he can recapture the form that places him second on the Commonwealth rankings, he is a true medal contender in the Heavyweight division.

Micky Yule said: “I am proud to be selected for my second Commonwealth Games. I finished fourth in Glasgow last time out and felt how close it was to miss out on those medals. I go to the Gold Coast with one mission and that’s to come home with a medal. Nothing else will do!”

Two young Para-Swimmers are also named to today and will be aiming to emulate the success of swimming sensation Erraid Davies at Glasgow 2014. Holder of an incredible 14 Scottish records in the S9 and S10 categories, 14 year old Toni Shaw is the youngest athlete named for Team Scotland for Gold Coast 2018 to date. Selection comes on the back of an outstanding 2017, where she won multiple medals at the World Para-Swimming Series and earned selection to the senior team for the World Para-Swimming Championships in Mexico.

Toni will swim the SB9 100m Breaststroke, the event in which Davies won her memorable bronze in Glasgow, as well as the S9 100m Freestyle, S9 100m Backstroke and the SM10 200m Individual Medley. She is joined by 16 year old Beth Johnston in the 200m Individual Medley. Beth took two gold and a silver at the penultimate World Para-Swimming Series event in Indianapolis and set Scottish records over 50m and 100m Backstroke in 2017.

Ally Whike, Performance Director at Scottish Swimming said: “Both Toni and Beth have upped their game throughout the qualification period and I’ve been impressed by their approach to each meet they have competed in. This will hold them in good stead to perform at their best come April.”

SELECTED ATHLETES

PARA-SWIMMING)

Beth Johnston, Galashiels
Toni Shaw, Aberdeen

POWERLIFTING

Micky Yule, Musselburgh / Southampton