Yell group do well in Orkney event
EIGHT badminton players from Yell represented Shetland at the Intersport Orkney Open Championships, competing against players from Edinburgh, Caithness and Orkney.
In the men’s singles Graham Keith lost out to Orkney’s Ian Gorn, but hard-hitting Jason Jamieson beat Eion Ballantine for a place in the semi-finals.
In the final Jason lost the first set against defending champion Mark MacKay before coming back in the second to level the score at 20-20. MacKay rallied to take the final points and managed to hold on to his title for another year.
In the women’s singles Stephanie Keith was knocked out of the running by Orkney’s Rebecca Reid in the semi-final. The plate competition was eventually won by Orcadian Jane Hill who beat Ruth Flett 21-16, 21-16 in the final.
In the men’s doubles Graham Keith and Jason Jamieson triumphed over the defending champions Eion Ballantine and Ross Groundwater and booked their place in the final against Orkney pair Calvin Reid and Trevor Kinghorn.
Jason and Graham went on to win a close first set 21-19. The second set was more comfortable for the Shetland pairing as they gained an early lead and maintained it throughout to win 21-14 and take the title.
There was a further win for Shetland with Stephanie Keith winning the women’s doubles plate with her partner Laura Gray from Orkney.
