Feathers fly at Argyll and Bute schools badminton championships
TUESDAY January 23 saw Oban High School host the Argyll and Bute Secondary Schools Badminton Championships with teams from Campbeltown, Dunoon, Oban, Rothesay and Tobermory competing.
There were five categories - boys singles, girls singles, boys doubles, girls doubles and mixed doubles - across U14, U16 and U19 age groups.
In the U14 girls competition Campbeltown dominated, with Jane Scott winning the singles and Jennifer McMurchy, also from Campbeltown, runner up.
The Campbeltown girls teamed up for the doubles and defeated Nuria Clowes and Anneloes Hutton, from Tobermory, in the final of the U14 girls doubles.
Jennifer and Ewan Dott, also from Campbeltown, won the U14 mixed with Jane Scott and Scott Oman, of Campbeltown, runners up.
In the U14 boys singles, a fantastic final saw Marcus Keith, from Dunoon, triumph over Morgan Gemmell, from Oban. In the boys doubles, a tight final saw Morgan Gemmell and Kyle MacDougall, from Oban, beat Marcus Keith and Nathan Shield of Dunoon 23-21.
In the U16 events, Alan Mollins, from Dunoon, had a productive day taking all three titles, singles, doubles and mixed. Alan was the only player to win all three titles during the day. He paired up with Andrew Tyre for the doubles and Niamh Evan for mixed. Fergus Carmichael and Finlay France, from Oban, were the runners up in the boys doubles and Kathryn Lindsay and Ceiron Danks, from Dunoon, were the runners up in the U16 mixed.
In the girls U16 singles, Kathryn Lindsay, from Dunoon, was the overall winner with Niamh Evans, also of Dunoon, runner up.
The girls paired up to take the U16 girls doubles title, with Oban girls Zoe Cook and Katie MacCorquodale taking second place.
In the U19 competition, the honours were again evenly spread between Oban, Campbeltown and Dunoon. Alasdair Ferguson from Campbeltown was the U19 boys singles champion with Jordan McIlkenny, from Dunoon, runner up. Craig MacCorquodale, from Oban, who missed out on the U19 final by one point, teamed up with Angus Neil to take the U19 boys doubles prize with Jordan McIllkenny and Jason Convery, from Dunoon, runners-up.
In the U19 girls event, Kirsty MacCorquodale from Oban took the top spot with Susan Shaw of Campbeltown taking second place.
Susan however, paired with Nicola MacKerel, won the girls doubles with Kirsty and partner Claire Reid coming second.
The U19 mixed doubles was a great conclusion to the afternoon with gold going to Oban’s Kirsty MacArthur and Craig MacCorquodale with Alastair Ferguson and Nicola Thomson taking silver.
Denise Gemmell, PE teacher at Oban High School, who organised the event, said: ‘The standard of play was very high within all age groups and events, with some keenly contested games even early on in the competition.
‘Sportsmanship, enjoyment and fair play were all part of an excellent day of badminton for the Argyll and Bute region.’
A highly competitive day of badminton saw a great deal of talent on display from keen young Argyll and Bute competitors.