Medal Round Up: BWF World Senior Championships 2023
By Grania Shankley
Last week, seven of our Masters players embarked on a trip to Jeonju in South Korea for the BWF World Senior Championships. While many of us enjoyed the last week of ‘Scottish summer’, our players geared up for their matches (8 hours ahead) with plenty of impressive results for us to be keeping an eye on overnight!
Those who made the trip, Christine Black, Lynne Campbell, Ross Campbell, Frazer McCulloch, Alan McMillan, Aileen Travers and Dan Travers have all competed for Scotland Internationally at home and abroad over the last couple of years.
Number one seeds in the XD 65 draw, Dan Travers and Christine Black went on a run which took them all the way to the final to face in-form Korean pair Eun Gu Lee/Yeon Yu. The Scottish pair had impressed throughout the tournament with some great results, including their 3-set semi-final win against 3rd seeds. Dan and Christine gave it their all in the final and came away with silver after a close score of 18-21 17-21 in favour of the home team.
Aileen Travers and partner Betty Blair (of England) also impressed in the WD 55. The pair claimed Bronze having reached the semi-final, just missing out on a place in the final against 2nd seeds Tanja Eberl (Germany)/Elke Nijsse-Drews (Netherlands) with a final score of 17-21 19-21.
Alan McMillan picked up Bronze in the MD 55 with partner Henrik Lykke. The pair were seeded [5/8] in the draw and it looked like they might have met their match in the semi-final when up against [5/8] seeds En-Horng Liu/Tung-Sheng Tu (Chinese Taipei). The final score was settled at 16-21 20-22 – a tight match with Alan and Henrik almost taking it to 3 sets.
Alan and Aileen’s run came to an end in the XD 55 quarter final after a 3-set thriller against 3/4th seed Jan-Eric Antonsson (Sweden)/Hanne Bertelsen (Denmark). Final score 10-21 21-17 14-21.
Elsewhere, number 1 seed in the WS 65, Christine Black picked up Bronze following a hard fought battle with Heidi Bender [3/4] (Germany). Christine cemented her place in the semi’s after a 21-10 21-15 quarter final win against England’s Anne Bridge. Christine looked to have found her game in the second 11-21 19-21, but Heidi was on her game and proved this by winning Gold in the final.
Number 1 seeds in the WD 65, Christine Black and Betty Bartlett (England) came through the round of 16 but their run came to a halt in the quarter final when faced with China’s Huan Qin Chen/Xiao Min Yu (11-21 14-21).
Another pair to reach the quarter final was Lynne Campbell and partner Dominika Guzik-Pluchowska (Poland) in the WD 40. The pair had some great results against Spanish and Japanese opponents in the opening rounds. A thrilling 3-set quarter final saw Lynne and Dominika pushed to the limit against Nupura Gadgil/Pooja Patil (India). It was all to play for at one set a piece but the final result was in favour of Nupura and Pooja (17-21 21-18 11-21).
Ross Campbell and Frazer McCulloch [5/8] looked like a strong partnership from the get-go in the MD 45 with great results in the round of 32 and 16. Their quarter final match against Naruenart Chuaymak and Thaweesak Koetsriphan of Thailand was a tougher test and they fell short of a place in the semis with a result of 21-9 21-13. Chuaymak and Koetsriphan went onto win gold in the final against fellow countrymen – in an all Thai final.
We want to take this opportunity to say a huge well done to all players! We hope you enjoyed the tournament and social aspects of the trip – you’ve done us all proud!
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