The Lothian U-14 (2004+) team took part in the Anglo Scottish Team Event at the Tyneside Badminton Centre. Lothian joined Cumbria, Cheshire, Lanarkshire, Northumberland and Yorkshire in the 6 team competition over 2 days. A tough first match draw and a slow start against a strong Cheshire team, with real strength in singles, resulted in a disappointing 9-6 loss for Lothian. At the post-match team talk, we all agreed we had to get up to speed and start winning the close matches. The team responded really well against Cumbria and Lanarkshire with two convincing 13-2 wins, and deserved some “chill out” time at the nearby Novotel-including some pretty impressive girls v boys “water polo”
Lothian was quick out the traps on Sunday morning and recorded a 14-1 win against Northumberland. The final match against Yorkshire, saw the team determined to pull out all the stops to get a victory. A hugely competitive match, with the traditional atmosphere to match, Lothian just lost out 8-7, with some real quality play by both teams, and the Lothian players really rising to the occasion. Congratulations to Yorkshire on their overall win. Lothian finished up in third place, with the smallest of margins between the top 3 teams.
Team coaches, Mahlen Fox and Arlene Bryen were delighted with the team effort, behaviour and support for each other over the weekend.
Many thanks to the competition organisers, our hosts at Tyneside Badminton Centre, our fellow competitors and to parents Robert Carlyle, Ananth Raman and Sethu Vijayakumar for their invaluable support.
Arlene Bryen
Team (L to R)
Top: Arjun Rajagopal, Theo Johnston, Finlay Jack, Ellis Gray, Daniel Bryen, Hamish McCallister
Bottom: Hannah Carlyle, Charlotte Speirs, Ishbel McCallister, Katie Taylor, Maithili Vijayakumar, Vibha Raman