The Oban High School (OHS) Badminton Championship saw 83 players take to the courts at Atlantis Leisure for a day of competitive action.
This year’s championship was held on Monday December 18 and was organised by PE teacher Denise Gemmel, with the assistance by former PE teacher and experienced badminton player, Liz Clunie.
Ms Gemmel said: “What a fantastic day of badminton – we had a huge entry, the pupils were so enthusiastic and keen to play.
“Win or lose they all enjoyed themselves which was the most important thing. There were so many close matches we over ran our time slot, which is a first, so a big thank you to Atlantis Leisure for their patience.
“Also a huge thank you to Liz Clunie who came along to help at the table and umpire – it was great to have her experience.”
In the championship’s under-14 boys’ event, Ryan Campbell, Dylan Morris, William Ward, Ruaridh MacKechnie and Alexander Malloch qualified for the knockout rounds, with the latter two progressing to the final.
Ruaridh was the eventual winner of the Cameron Barbour Cup after winning an excellent final against Alexander.
In the under-14 boys doubles event there was also a massive entry, which was whittled down to a final in which William Ward and Ruaridh MacKechnie faced Alexander Malloch and Ryan Campbell.
Alexander overcame his loss in the singles to lift the doubles title with partner Ryan.
The girls event also took place in the morning and although numbers were low, there was still exciting play and some tight matches.
In the under-16 girls’ final Lily Robinson defeated Megan Carre, while in the under-19 girls’ final Taylor Robinson overcame Rachel Carre, who finished second in the group.
Megan and Lily also teamed up in the doubles to win the under-16 title, with Taylor and Rachel winning the under-19 girls’ doubles title.
Meanwhile, in the under-16 boys competition there was a massive entry, with David Simpson, Ruairidh Newis, Finn MacKechnie, Gabriel Kardasz, Finlay Cottier and Lucas McLeod making it out of the group stages.
David and Lucas qualified for the final, with David overpowering Lucas to become this year’s under-16 boys’ winner of the Stewart Barbour Cup.
There were also many close matches in group stages of the under-16 boys doubles as Finlay Cottier and Felix Musgrave-Dance teamed up to face Lucas McLeod and Finn MacKechnie in the final.
Lucas and Finn triumphed in the end lifting the under-16 boys’ shield, while the under- 19 boys’ matches were of an excellent quality.
Innes MacCallum, Evan Strathern, Thomas Thomson, Alexander Macdonald, Euan Dods and Ewan Dowd made it through to the knock out stages, before Innes and Euan Dods faced each other in the final.
In a closely fought match between the two experienced S6 players it was Innes who lifted the under-19 trophy, beating Euan 21-17.
In the doubles David Simpson moved himself from the under-16 age category to compete in the under-19 competition with Thomas Thomson.
It was a risky move for David as the pair faced under-19 singles finalists Innes and Euan in the doubles final.
However, they lifted the under-19 doubles trophy after defeating Innes and Euan 21-17 in an entertaining final.
The sportsmanship of the players was evident and the runners-up were genuinely happy for David and Thomas.
Ms Gemmel was also helped on the day by the senior badminton leaders Innes MacCallum, Euan Dods, David Simpson, Lucas McLeod and Tayler Robinson.
Several of the players in action regularly attend the Oban and OHS badminton clubs, with their hard work coming to fruition.