While it was perhaps not realistic to expect the unprecedented successes of the 13/14 season to be repeated, nonetheless, there was still much to celebrate for Lothian players during the 14/15 season as players from junior through to senior level continued to perform successfully at the highest level.
During the season, the following players all won National titles at different levels.
Junior National Champions:
U15 Girls’ Singles – Lily Farnood
U15 Girls’ Doubles – Lily Farnood and Sarah Sidebottom (Rothesay)
U15 Mixed Doubles – Lily Farnood and Matthew Grimley (Glasgow)
Lily Farnood
U17 Girls’ Doubles – Julie MacPherson and Sarah Findlay (Erskine)
U19 Girls’ Singles –Julie MacPherson
U19 Mixed Doubles – Julie MacPherson and Adam Hall (Mauchline)
U21 Women’s Singles – Julie MacPherson
U21 Women’s Doubles – Julie MacPherson and Sarah Findlay (Erskine)
U21 Mixed Doubles – Alistair Gordon and Julie MacPherson
Julie MacPherson
Scottish National Champions:
Men’s doubles – Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh (Kinross)
Mixed doubles – Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier (Glasgow)
Scottish Schools Champions:
Junior Girls’ Singles – Rachel Cameron
Intermediate Boys’ Singles – Calum Atterbury
Intermediate Girls’ Singles – Shona Whillans
Intermediate Girls’ Doubles – Eloise Morris & Shona Whillans
Intermediate Mixed Doubles – Glen Lewington & Lauren Page
Scottish Seniors National Champions:
Over 40 Women’s Doubles – Sandra Watt & Carolyn Young
Over 40 Mixed Doubles – Craig Lamb & Carolyn Young
Over 50 Men’s Singles – Ross Gladwin
Over 50 Men’s Doubles – Ross Gladwin & Steve Thomson (Stonehaven)
Over 55 Men’s Singles – Colin Campbell
Over 55 Mixed Doubles – Colin Campbell & Diana Koleva (Glasgow)
Over 60 Men’s Doubles – Ian Campbell & Ashley Sharp (Kilmarnock)
Over 60 Mixed Doubles – Margaret Robertson & Andy Muirhead (Stranraer)
Over 65 Men’s Doubles – Colin Hepburn & David Barr (Ayrshire)
Scottish Seniors International Champions:
Over 40 Women’s Singles – Carolyn Young
We also were delighted to see many of our players awarded international honours during the season:
Internationals:
European Mixed Team Championships – Robert Blair, Martin Campbell, Paul van Rietvelde
Junior Internationals:
Under 15 Home Countries Quadrangular –Lily Farnood, Rachel Andrew and Rachel Cameron
Under 19 European Junior – Julie MacPherson
Seniors Internationals:
Scandinavian International – Colin Campbell, Ian Campbell, Ross Gladwin, Colin Hepburn, Christine Black, Jill Gladwin Grieg, Sandra Watt and Carolyn Young
Robert McCoig Veterans International – Ian Campbell, Ross Gladwin, Craig Lamb, Christine Black, Jill Gladwin Grieg, Margaret Robertson and Carolyn Young
Round up
Lily Farnood had great success at the Under 15 Home Countries Quadrangular winning the girls’ doubles with Lauren Middleton (Dundee) and the mixed doubles with Matthew Grimley (Glasgow). Rachel Andrew also reached the final of the mixed doubles in partnership with Christopher Grimley (Glasgow). Lily, Rachel and Rachel Cameron were all members of the Scottish team which won the team event.
Matthew Carder
At senior level, Lothian players again enjoyed a lot of success on the Scottish circuit. Matthew Carder again topped the men’s singles National ranking list at the end of the season, retaining his titles at the West and East championships. Julie MacPherson won the ladies’ singles at the East Championships and won the mixed titles at the East and Glasgow championships with Adam Hall (Mauchline). Martin Campbell and Michael Campbell also regained the men’s doubles title at the East championships title which they had previously won in the 12/13 season.
In the Scottish National Championships, Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh (Kinross) won their first national title, defeating previous champions Robert Blair and Gordon Thomson (Glasgow). Robert retained his mixed doubles title with Imogen Bankier (Glasgow) beating the Under 19 National Champions Julie MacPherson and Adam Hall (Mauchline) in the final while Matthew Carder once again reached the final of the men’s singles.
Imogen Bankier and Robert Blair
Robert Blair’s remarkable mixed doubles partnership with Imogen Bankier (Glasgow) came to an end during the 14/15 season. They finished on a very high note, however, by retaining their title at the Scottish Open. They also played a huge part in the remarkable victory by Scotland over the holders Germany in the European Mixed Team Championships. Lothian players Martin Campbell and Paul van Rietvelde were also part of that team.
On the international scene, Martin Campbell had another successful season. Martin and Patrick MacHugh (Kinross) retained their title at the Iceland International event and again reached the final of the Portuguese International.
Martin Campbell and Gail Emms
Both Robert Blair and Martin Campbell represented University of Nottingham and Team Derby respectively in the inaugural National Badminton League which was broadcast live on Sky Sports. The new format provided many exciting ties throughout the season. Both players made it through to finals day with Robert’s University of Nottingham team being edged out by Martin’s Team Derby in the semi-finals. Team Derby went on to win the final against Loughborough University in another hotly contested match to become the first winners of the NBL trophy.
Fiona Christie won three titles at the Scottish 4 Nations Para Badminton Championships, winning the Wheelchair Women’s Singles Combined event, the women’s doubles with Laura-Lee Jenkins (Ireland) and the mixed doubles with Owen Kilburn (England). Four of Lothian’s para-badminton players were also selected for the Scottish team to take part in the World Para-Badminton championships. Colin Leslie took part in the SL3 events, Fiona Christie in the wheelchair WH2 events, with Bobby Laing and Ross Foley participating in the SS3 events. Bobby went on to win a bronze medal in the SS3 doubles with his Irish partner Andrew Moorcroft.
At the European Seniors Championships, Christine Black added to her glittering career by winning the over 55 mixed doubles with compatriot Dan Travers. Christine also won bronze medals in the over 55 women’s singles and the over 55 women’s doubles with her Dutch partner Marjan Ridder.
In the Inter County Championship, Lothian’s 1st team finished 2nd in Division 3 and our 2nd team also finished 2nd in Division 4. In the Scottish Inter Group, Lothian finished in 3rd place. Next season the Inter County leagues are being restructured and it is not yet clear how this is going to impact on Lothian both in terms of being able to field our strongest teams and also in terms of finance.
Finally, it would be remiss not to mention that Jillie Cooper retired from international badminton following the 2014 Commonwealth Games, bringing to an end a highly successful badminton career before embarking on a career change. We wish Jillie well for the future.
As always, we wish all our players the best of luck for the forthcoming season and look forward to their continued success in the 15/16 season.