Lothian shuttle stars shine in finals

Lothian players featured prominently throughout the Yonex MCFM East of Scotland under-15 and under-19 badminton championships held initially at Jack Kane Centre and at Meadowbank the following day.

Competitors were attracted from England and Wales as well as Scotland.

Emily Jobson won the under-15 girls’ singles while Deepti Vijayakumar won two titles in the under 19 age group, including the mixed doubles with fellow Lothian player, Blair Tait.

There were two double winners in each age group. In the under 15’s age Calum Tsang claimed singles and boys doubles titles while Nathan Luo claimed boys doubles and mixed titles.

In the under 19 age group, in addition to Deepti who won the girls’ doubles as well as the mixed, Lewis Smith also won the boys’ singles and boys’ doubles.

The tournament was sponsored by Martin Campbell Financial Management (who presented prizes) and Yonex equipment with additional support from City of Edinburgh Council.

The next big event for local junior badminton will be the Yonex MCFM East of Scotland under-13 and under-17  championships at the Jack Kane Centre on November 2-3.

Results:

Under-19 boys singles –  Lingyun Xiao (Heriot’s) lost to Lewis Smith (Glasgow & North Strathclyde), 12-21 17-21

Under-19 girls singles  –  Deepti Vijayakumar (St.George’s) lost to Jaagruti Mannem (West of Scotland), 18-21 19-21

Under-19 girls doubles  – Deepti Vijayakumar & Jody Groundwater (Orkney) beat Jaagruti Mannem & Shreya Vargheese (West of Scotland), 21-11, 21-11

Unde-19 mixed doubles  – Blair Tait (Watson’s) & Deepti Vijayakumar beat Alfie Martin (Lanarkshire) & Katrina Chan (Glasgow & North Strathclyde), 25-23, 21-12

Under-15 girls singles – Emily Jobson (Gillespie’s) beat Elona Kennedy (Lanarkshire), 21-11, 16 21, 21-14

Under-15 boys’ Singles – Calum Tsang beat Reyansh Arora 17-21, 21-12, 21-13

Under-15 boys doubles  – Melrick D’Souza (Craigmount) & Dylan Jia (Watson’s) lost to Nathan Luo & Calum Tsang 13-21, 19-21

Under-15 girls doubles  – Emily Jobson & Elona Kennedy lost to Maia Baker and Riya Bhaskar (Midlands) – 16-21, 21-17, 21-19

Under-15 mixed doubles –  Melrick D’Souza & Emily Jobson lost to Nathan Luo & Elona Kennedy 19-21, 22-20, 13-21