Successful Scot strikes gold at World Senior Badminton Championships

Christine Black won gold in the 65+ women’s doubles at the World Senior Badminton Championships 2021 as the successful Scots came away with a clutch of medals.

The tournament was held in the Carolina Marin Arena in Huelva, Spain, over the weekend and saw over 1000 players competing in 45 events.

Black and her partner Marjan Ridder caused an upset defeating top seeds Betty Bartlett and Brenda Creasey to take the title in the women’s doubles event. This was no easy feat, with Bartlett and Creasey taking the match to three sets, however, the Scots held their nerve and won 21-18, 15-21, 21-16.

Black then went on to add two silver medals to her haul; one facing Betty Bartlett once again in the 65+ singles (21-14  21-18  20-22), and another following a terse match against joint 5/8^th seeds Magnus Ericsson and Kerstin Kristofferson in the 60+ mixed doubles with partner Dan Travers.

Travers and Black faced their challengers with fighting spirit, taking the first of three sets, however, the Swedish pair were hot on their heels, ending the Scots campaign 21-18, 22-24, 21-19.

Mark MacKay also had a good run to the 45+ men’s doubles finals with Danish partner Johnny Hast Hansen. Here they came up against joint 3/4^th seeds Aneesh and Mascarenhas, finishing with a silver to add to Scotland’s success.

And it wasn’t just success on finals day for the team; Lynne Campbell and her Dutch partner Majken Asmussen didn’t leave the Championships empty handed, picking up a bronze in the 45+ women’s doubles event. Mark MacKay and Dan Travers also collected bronze medals in the 45+ men’s singles and 60+ men’s doubles respectively.