Badminton teams look to progress

The second round of fixtures of the Perth and District Badminton League saw Division 2 teams in action for the first time this season.

Seven teams are competing for the Division 2 title and promotion to Division 1.

Glenearn D make a welcome return this term having not featured since 2020 when the league was paused due to the Covid pandemic.

With four of its men unavailable due to injury, Crieff C faced challenges in assembling a team even before play started.

However, with a team secured with help from across the district, they were ready to take on Bankfoot.

Adrian King and David Quinn made their Crieff debuts, with Adrian winning three sets and David one.

The match was poised at five sets each after playing all the men’s doubles and women’s doubles sets.

However, Bankfoot showed their superiority in mixed doubles, winning all eight sets to secure a 13-5 overall win.

In what looked likely to be the most closely contested match of the night, two of last season’s top teams in Division 2, Crieff B and Glenearn C, faced off in what would be an early test of their relative strengths this time around.

With several players unavailable for selection for Glenearn C, Ross Paterson stepped in on the day to complete the team.

However, the match was overshadowed by an injury sustained by one of Crieff’s players, which resulted in a trip to hospital.

A combination of the injury and the late arrival of another Crieff player meant Crieff conceded four sets with the result being a 9-9 draw.

League organisers commented that it was great to see talented young players in the team selected by Blairgowrie to take on Kinross B.

While the more experienced and accomplished Kinross players achieved a comprehensive 18-0 win, the Blairgowrie youngsters showed good potential and can look forward to a strengthening team as those players develop further.

Results on the day were as follows: Crieff C 5, Bankfoot 13; Glenearn C 9, Crieff B 9; Blairgowrie 0, Kinross B 18.

The Crieff Bowling Club lottery numbers for Friday last week were 1, 2, 9 and 18.

There was no winner and the jackpot for Friday this week is £1350.