Smith and Apiliga on course for men’s singles final showdown
Callum Smith and Joshua Apiliga remain on course to meet in Sunday’s showpiece men’s singles final at the Yonex Scottish National Championships, being held this weekend at Bell’s Sports Centre in Perth.
The top two seeds are vying to succeed eight-time winner Kieran Merrilees as the next Scottish men’s singles champion but 3/4 seed Danny Robson and unseeded Calum Flockhart, their respective semi-final opponents, will be aiming to spring a surprise in tomorrow morning’s semi-finals.
Robson secured his place in the semis courtesy of a 22-20 18-21 21-13 win over 5/8 seed Michael McGuire in what was one of the matches of the tournament so far while Flockhart had to overcome former men’s doubles champion Thomas Bethell on his way to the last four.
The women’s singles unfolded according to seeding with favourite Rachel Sugden easing through to the last four where she will face joint 3/4 seed Abbie Brooks.
Second seed Lauren Middleton safely negotiated her way through a potentially tricky quarter-final against Lindsey Ireland, winning 21-15 21-13 and will face the other joint 3/4 seed Basia Grodynska in the bottom half of the draw.
In the men’s doubles top seeds Chris and Matt Grimley will face Alistair Gordon and Mark Leith in the semi-final as they attempt to etch their names on the trophy for the first time.
In the bottom half of the draw Alex Dunn is aiming to hold onto the title he won last year with Adam Hall. He and older brother Robert will line up against Jack MacGregor and Adam Pringle, who beat Pringle’s older brother Ciar and Steven Stewart in their quarter final.
Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance will play Abbie Brooks and Ireland in the semi-finals as they attempt to hold on to the women’s doubles crown they won last year after Brooks and Ireland defeated mother/daughter duo Laura and Iona Muir.
In the bottom half of the draw Rachel Andrew and Lauren Middleton will face off against Jodie Black and Jodie Harris for a place in the final but Black and Harris had to battle hard to get there, edging out youngsters Keryn Swan and Brooke Stalker 22-20 22-20.
The line-up for the mixed doubles final was confirmed last night but for a while a major shock looked to be on the cards, with top seeds Dunn and Torrance squeaking through to the finals after dropping the second set against MacGregor and Middleton, winning 21-13 21-23 21-14.
Second seeds Matt Grimley and MacPherson were more clinical, beating Adam Pringle and Rachel Andrew 21-10 21-7 to reach the final.
All matches are being live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialSBU and you can see results, draws and match schedules at https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament?id=21314D21-7487-4616-9BC0-5B3268F829F2
Semi-finals start on Sunday morning at 10.00hrs with the finals getting underway at 14.00hrs.