The Welsh leg of the 4 Nations Para-Badminton series took place at Sport Wales National Centre which saw players competing from the UK and Ireland across all levels of disability badminton.
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Lothian Disability Badminton Club based at both Musselburgh and Bathgate was represented in all categories with players in Wheelchair, Standing, Short Stature and Learning Disability, with a strong squad of 12 players travelling down.
In SL3 class Alan Oliver brought home well-deserved silver in the men’s singles event after putting on a great performance against England’s Dan Bethel. Colin Leslie didn’t manage to progress out of the group stages due to an unfortunate injury. Dave Purdie (SL4), Ross Foley, Bobby Laing and Andrew Davies (SS6) were also competing in their men’s singles categories. They fought hard and showed some inspiring performances but didn’t quite manage to progress out of their groups.
In the men’s doubles Alan Oliver and English partner Antony Forster reached the semi-finals fighting hard and playing extremely well. The pair are improving tournament by tournament and great to see their progress. In the SS6 category doubles pairs Ross Foley and Andrew Davies along with Bobby Laing and Isaac Dalglish all put in some stunning match play although they didn’t progress through to the semi final stages.
In the Learning Disability category we had tremendous success. Peter Sabine bringing home 3 medals: gold in the men’s singles and silver in both mixed doubles and level doubles with fellow club player Gregor Hardie. Michael McCraw fought hard against tough opponents in his singles draw, not managing to progress passed the group stage but won silver in the men’s doubles with partner James Wyatt and also achieved gold in the mixed doubles with local East Lothian player Jenny Gray. Jenny also won gold in the ladies doubles and silver in the singles and overall a great performance by all the LD players.
Fiona Christie brought home gold in the wheelchair ladies singles and Duncan Taylor, Lothian only male wheelchair athlete although he never medalled put in some great performances in both his singles and men’s doubles.
A total of 11 medals were won by Lothian Club players and also several semi-finalists / 3rd places. The Club are thrilled with the progress and the effort every player is putting into their game and looking forward to a successful 2016 /2107 season.
