Dunbeg champ
TEENAGER Murdo Masterson was crowned champion of the under-25s heavy events at the Braemar Gathering.
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Murdo Masterson from Dunbeg was crowned champion of the under-25s heavy events at the Braemar Gathering on Saturday, one of Scotland’s biggest Highland games attended by HM The Queen, writes Sandy Neil.
This week Murdo’s proud parents Chick and Inga expressed their delight.
His dad Chick told The Oban Times: ‘Achieving this at 18 years old is massive.’ He added: ‘He is one of the youngest to win it. It’s run over 13 games. You accumulate points at all of them and whoever has accumulated the most points wins.
‘It was very close throughout the tournament. It was all down to the final day.’
The former Oban High School pupil was already winning by three points as he stepped on to the field at Braemar, but could have lost his lead. However, he won the day, and the contest, by a 6.5 point margin ahead of James Dawkins, throwing the 16lb hammer 124ft 6in, and the 28lb weight 65ft 3in.
‘He was also winning the 22lb hammer in the open competition with a personal best of 109 feet until Craig Sinclair, who is featured on the Specsavers advert trying to lift the floodlights pole instead of the caber, beat him by three inches on his final throw,’ said Chick.
‘His big passion is the Highland games. He has spent the last year concentrating on this.’
He was getting coaching from Shaun Bates in Oban.
‘The plan now is to get a job.’