MacPherson and Newall win Welsh International

Julie MacPherson and Holly Newall won their first international title together at the Victor Welsh International in Cardiff.

Having enjoyed success together at junior level, MacPherson and Newall have recently re-formed as a partnership having formerly played with Eleanor O’Donnell and Ciara Torrance respectively.

And their former partners, playing together as sixth seeds in Wales, provided the stiffest competition for MacPherson and Newall who came from behind to win 18-21 21-16 21-13 in the semi-finals.

It was the only set MacPherson and Newall had lost in the women’s doubles and they went on to win the final courtesy of a 22-20 21-12 victory over another unseeded pair Susan Ekelund and Line Fleischer of Denmark.

Although the women’s doubles provided Scotland with their best results in Wales, Adam Pringle and Rachel Andrew also put in some impressive performances in the mixed doubles.

Having won two difficult matches in qualifying to reach the main draw the young Scots won their first round encounter with England’s Alexander Cook and Grace Taylor 17-21 21-15 21-15.

A second round defeat to another English pair, Matthew Clare and Victoria Williams, ended their campaign but the nature of the close 21-16 21-18 defeat to a pair who went on to win the tournament demonstrated the potential the young Scots, who still compete at junior level, undoubtedly have.

Full results at www.tournamentsoftware.com