2024 Yonex East of Scotland Championships
This year’s Yonex East of Scotland Championships were held at the Oriam and Meadowbank Sports Centre on the first weekend in April.
Tournament organisers were very pleased to have an extremely large entry in the tournament. There was a truly international feel to the tournament with players from China, Slovakia, Ukraine, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Scotland and England, participating. The tournament ended with new titles winners in every event.
Singles
The men’s singles event was very strong with 6 of the 7 top ranked Scottish players taking part. It culminated with the top seeds Angus Meldrum and James Robertson facing off against each other in a high quality final. Angus managed to justify his top seeding by winning in two very close games 26-24 21-19. In the women’s singles, Lothian girl Vibha Raman won her first East of Scotland title by defeating top seed Katrina Chan 21-17 22-20.
Doubles
The men’s doubles final was the most competitive final of the afternoon and could have gone either way before Ganesh Balaji and Zheng Wei (Zach) Wong finally came out on top 17-21 22-20 23-21 saving a number of match points along the way. In the women’s doubles, Holly Newall and Toni Woods were dominant in the final, defeating Lothian players Lily Farnood and Rachel Maclean 21-2 21-11.
The mixed doubles final gave Zach Wong a second title of the day in partnership with Jun Cheah. They ran out 21-16 21-10 winners in an impressive display.
The consolation events for players who lost their first match in the main event, again provided some very competitive matches. The winners of the consolation events were:
- Men’s singles – Michael Cheah
- Women’s singles – Lily Farnood
- Men’s doubles – Alastair Campbell and Alex Chudic
- Mixed doubles – Lewis Raeburn and Tegan Weston
Complete results from the tournament can be found at:
Yonex East of Scotland Championships 2024
Prizes were presented by former Lothian Convenor, Douglas Walker. Tournament Referee Colin Campbell thanked the Court Officials of Badminton Scotland, the staff at Oriam and Meadowbank and the players for the excellent quality of play and their co-operation throughout the weekend. He also expressed his thanks to Yonex for their ongoing and much appreciated support of the event. Lothian Group is also greatly indebted to Gannon Sports who once again provided the prizes for the consolation events.