Junior League kicks off Lanarkshire Circuit of Competitions
By Lanarkshire Badminton
On Sunday 27th August, the Lanarkshire Junior League – Singles Event got the circuit of Lanarkshire Badminton Group (LBG) competitions for the 2023/24 season underway with 38 players in total competing. The event took place at the Ally McCoist Sports Complex in East Kilbride which has had a major refurbishment with a new sports floor being installed in the main hall – much to the delight of badminton community.
With this number of entries, it allowed our organisers to arrange the draw by forming four round robin pools with approximately ten players in each group based on ability. The aim was to maximise the amount of game time for each player and overall providing an enjoyable & fun day of competition.
Overall it was a great atmosphere with all players giving it there all and parents & family members spectating at the side and adding to the buzz in the venue. Group 1 had many close encounters, in particular a special mention to Elona Kennedy who was playing against players older than her. Despite this, she manage to push her opponents all the way winning 2 out of her 6 games. This included narrowly losing 23-21 to Peter Young; 25-23 to Blair Whitson and to Group 1 winner Freddie Harris 22-20. We had an issue with time, it meant we had to reduce games to 11 points in the final round of matches. This did not affect the Groups below however we had to give all four players who won an equal amount of games the trophy because we could not do a points difference countback. As you can see from the photo below they were quite happy to share the trophy!
In Group 2, it was a clean sweep for Tharun Kalva with 100% wins with 9 out of 9 taking the title for this group. They were closely followed by David McCrindle and Layla Shaw with eight & seven wins respectively. Han-Lin Wu managed to convincingly win Group 3 with a tightly contest match with second place Logan Haas with Wu clinching the win 23-21. Moving to Group 4, Ansh Kiran Timalapur displayed a consistent and solid set of performances to win the group, with 60 points scored against across the round of matches.
Group Convenor of the LBG, Jill Smith when reflecting on the day stated: ‘‘It was a very well attended event involving 38 kids aged between 8 and 17 years old of all abilities. Around 180 games were played fairly and with enthusiasm. We are looking forward to the next one in January’’
Pam Casey, also a volunteer on the day who is one our LBG committee members added:
‘‘The event went very well with lots of tight competitive games. There was lots of positive feedback which was nice and appreciated and hope everyone enjoyed the event – both players and spectators’’
‘‘The whole hall was buzzing throughout and time flew by for everyone – players, parents, organisers. All round a great day of badminton!’’ Frank Turnbull, LBG Tournament Convenor & Treasurer.
Well done to all the players, creating a great competition for all. Also thanks for our team of volunteers on the day for ensuring the event ran smoothly including Jill, Pam and of course Frank who was on the desk fulfilling match control duties.
Here are pictures of the winners from each group being presented their trophies and medals:
Group 1 Winner(s) – Freddie Harris, Blair Whitson, Peter Young, Sebastian Janicki
Group 2 Winner – Tharun Kalva
Group 3 Winner – Han-Lin Wu
Group 4 Winner – Ansh Kiran TIMALAPUR