News - October 09

Lothian Group Successes     

Season 08/09 was a notable one for Lothian players with our players enjoying a remarkable level of success not only in Scotland and other parts of the UK, but also at tournaments in Europe and as far afield as Pune in India. Once more we celebrated successes from Junior level right up to the Veteran ranks. Amongst the many fantastic achievements, perhaps the highlights were Martin Campbell and Paul van Rietvelde playing off for the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games in India, Jillie Cooper winning her first EBU title at the Scottish International Championships and then following this up with a further victory in the Welsh Open and our newly crowned BADMINTONscotland President, Christine Black winning a gold medal in the European Masters ladies doubles.

 During the season, the following players all won National titles at different levels.

 Junior National Champions:

U13 Boys’ Doubles – Alistair Gordon & Adam Hall (Ayrshire)

U15 Girls’ Doubles – Hannah Laing & Megan Richardson

U17 Boys’ Doubles – Michael Campbell & Craig Pollock

U17 Mixed Doubles – Michael Campbell & Kirsty Gilmour (Lanark)

U19 Boys’ Singles – Martin Campbell

U19 Boys’ Doubles – Martin Campbell & Angus Gilmour (Troon)

U19 Mixed Doubles – Paul van Rietvelde & Gillian Sloan (Glasgow)

U23 Men’s Doubles – Martin Campbell & Angus Gilmour (Troon)

U23 Mixed Doubles – Peter Hockey and Alison Marr (Glasgow)

Senior National Champions:

Men’s Doubles – Thomas Bethell & Watson Briggs (Glasgow)

Ladies Doubles – Jillie Cooper and Imogen Bankier (Glasgow)

Scottish Schools Champions:

Primary Girls’ singles – Julie McPherson

U16 Boys’ Singles – Matthew Carder

U16 Boys’ Doubles – Edward Cogliano & Rajan Bhopal

Veteran National Champions:

Over 50 men’s singles – Colin Campbell

Over 55 men’s singles – Ian Campbell

Over 55 mixed doubles – Christine Black and Leon Douglas

We also were delighted to see many of our players awarded international honours during the season:

Under 15 Home Countries Quadrangular – Megan Richardson & Hannah Laing

Under 17 UK School Games – Michael Campbell, Craig Pollock & Matthew Carder

Under 17 Home Countries Quadrangular – Michael Campbell & Matthew Carder

Under 19 Commonwealth Youth Games – Martin Campbell, Paul van Rietvelde and Craig Pollock

Under 19 World Junior Championships (team and individual) – Martin Campbell, Paul van Rietvelde and Craig Pollock

Under 19 European Junior Team Championships – Martin Campbell & Paul van Rietvelde

Under 19 European Junior Individual Championships – Martin Campbell, Paul van Rietvelde and Craig Pollock

Senior Internationals (various) – Thomas Bethell, Jillie Cooper & Emma Mason.

(Paul van Rietvelde was also selected for the Sudirman Cup team but unfortunately was unable to play due to injury.)

Robert McCoig Veterans International – Colin Campbell, Ian Campbell & Christine Black

Veterans Triangular International vs Wales and Ireland – Colin Campbell, Ian Campbell, Christine Black, Ian Dickson & Sandra Dickson

Many of our junior players also recorded further successes in the various Scottish junior tournament circuit. At senior level, Peter Hockey and Duncan Leith recorded their first senior men’s doubles victory at the Glasgow Championship and then quickly followed it up with another victory in the East. Lindsay Campbell also added to her senior titles by retaining her Ladies Doubles with Victoria Wan (Glasgow) at the Glasgow Championship, and then repeated her success at the East Championship. Duncan Leith also won his first senior mixed doubles title at the East Championship, partnered by former Lothian player Helen McCombe.

Martin Campbell enjoyed much international success in the U19 age group. In addition to his bronze medal in the Commonwealth Youth Games, Martin won the Yorkshire U19 singles and also had U19 boys’ doubles wins at the Northumberland International and Belgian Junior events with Angus Gilmour (Troon). Martin and Angus also reached their first senior doubles final at the Scottish National Championships. Martin’s performances throughout the season resulted in him being awarded the BWA/Dorothy Hinchcliff Yonex Young Player of the Year award. Paul van Rietvelde also enjoyed a lot of success, reaching the semi final of the singles at the Commonwealth Youth Games and reaching the semi final of the mixed doubles, with Gillian Sloan (Glasgow) at the highly competitive Dutch Junior and also at the Scottish National Championships. Both Martin and Paul achieved very high European rankings during the course of the season.

At senior level, in addition to her fantastic successes in the ladies doubles at the Scottish International Championships and Welsh Open, Jillie Cooper won her first Senior National title by taking the ladies doubles title with Imogen Bankier (Glasgow). There was also a first senior National title for Thomas Bethell in the men’s doubles, who along with Watson Briggs, beat Martin Campbell and Angus Gilmour in the final.

Christine Black produced an outstanding performance at the European Senior Championships, winning the 50+ ladies doubles with Marjan Ridder (Holland) and also reaching the semi final of the singles and mixed doubles with Dan Travers.

It was also a good year in the Inter County Championship, where with us being able to select a much more consistent team, we gained promotion back to Division 1A. In the Scottish Inter Group, unfortunately, we were unable to retain our title, coming third behind strong Midlands and Lanarkshire teams.

The outlook for the forthcoming season is already looking promising with Mathew Carder and Edward Cogliano having been selected to represent Scotland at the UK School Games.

We wish all our players the best of luck for the forthcoming Season and look forward to their continued success.

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