This year’s Yonex East of Scotland Championships were held at the Oriam, Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre, at Heriot-Watt University which proved to be an excellent venue for the tournament. We had a large entry which resulted in many competitive games on the Saturday in both the main events and the consolation events.
There was another new name on the men’s singles trophy with James Robertson winning his first senior title by defeating Jiayi Lu 26-24, 21-14 in a very entertaining match. The women’s singles final was also hotly contested with Basia Grodynska coming from behind to beat Abbie Brooks 18-21, 21-15, 21-18 and in so doing, retaining the title she won in 2020.
In the men’s doubles event, the final was contested by the tops seeds who came through some very tough examinations in their respective semi finals. Robert Dunn was looking to retain the title he won in 2020 but this time with Anthony McGuire. However, Robert and Anthony were up against top seeds Kenneth Cheung and Callum Crangle in the final and Kenneth and Callum proved too strong, running out 21-19, 21-10 winners.
We also had new women’s doubles champions with Kirsten Berry, who has contested many finals in the past, and new partner Sophie Ford defeating Jane Yi Chiam and Ai Jang players. Jane Yi and Ai had beaten the top seeds in the semi finals. After a very close first game, Kirsten and Sophie ran out 22-20, 21-9 winners.
In the mixed doubles final, after losing the first game, top seeds Kenneth Cheung and Jodie Harris came through to defeat Calum Flockhart and Brooke Stalker 14-21, 21-18, 21-13.
The consolation events for players who lost their first match in the main event, again provided some very competitive and very long matches. The winners of the consolation events were:
Men’s singles – Josh Taylor
Women’s singles – Rachel MacLean
Men’s doubles –Lewis Raeburn and James Williamson
Women’s doubles – Kathryn McGregor and Suzanne Zwane
Mixed doubles – Daniel Johnson and Rachel MacLean
Complete results from the tournament can be found at:
Yonex East of Scotland Championships 2022
Prizes were presented by BADMINTONscotland Past President, Ian Campbell. Tournament Referee Colin Campbell thanked the Court Officials of Badminton Scotland, the staff at Oriam and the players for the excellent quality of play and their cooperation and sportsmanship throughout the weekend. He also expressed his thanks to Yonex for their ongoing and much appreciated support of the event. Lothian Group is also greatly indebted to Gannon Sports who once again provided the prizes for the consolation events.