Caithness badminton quartet feature in trial event ahead of Island Games
Caithness badminton players Shona Mackay, Chloe Mackenzie, Mark Mackay and Mark McCoustra travelled to the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall for the R Clouston Orkney Championships 2025 – a trial live event ahead of the Island Games 2025 being held in Orkney in July.
Over the weekend there were some fantastic games and nail-biting rallies. Level doubles were followed by mixed on Saturday, then singles on Sunday.
Mark Mackay paired up with Shetland’s Thomas Calder and they were second seeds in the men’s doubles. Mark McCoustra played with Orkney’s Ross Groundwater.
Mark and Thomas topped Group B, placing them in the main draw.
Mark and Ross had a tough start, playing the top seeds in their pool, but took them to three sets. They lost their other pool games, putting them into the consolation knockout event.
Mark and Thomas had a bye to the semi-finals where they played the third seeds, Orkney’s Sam Groundwater and Sam Rendall, with Mark and Thomas winning 21-15, 21-7.
In the final they came up against the number one seeds Andrew Reid and Matthew Reid, from Orkney, with Mark and Thomas winning comfortably in two sets 21-16, 21-14.
Mark and Ross won 21-10, 21-9 against Orkney juniors Alex Adamson and Murray Clark in the consolation final.
Shona and Chloe paired up in the ladies’ doubles and were seeded number three. They topped their group, winning both their games comfortably.
In the quarter-finals they overcame Shetland’s Aimee Keith and Amy Sineath 21-8, 21-11, then the Caithness duo won in three sets against the second seeds, Orkney’s Jody Groundwater and Rebecca Reid, 27-25, 22-24, 21-17.
Shona and Chloe kept up their winning streak up as they beat Orkney’s Shannon Leslie and Gemma Foulis, the top seeds, 21-18, 21-19 in the final.
Top-seeded pair Mark and Shona Mackay were on fire in the mixed doubles, not dropping a set in their group as they progressed to the quarter-finals.
Chloe and Mark McCoustra paired up and were in Group C with the third seeds. They won two of their three games to set up a quarter-final encounter with Mark and Shona, with the experienced pairing taking the win 21-8, 21-12.
Mark and Shona defeated Ganesh Balaji and Elaine Gray in three sets in the semi-finals, 18-21, 21-3, 21-6.
They then faced the second seeds, Andrew Reid and Jody Groundwater, in a repeat of the final from the Caithness Open in March, but this time Mark and Shona took the win 21-6, 21-16.
Second seed Mark Mackay was in Group B of the men’s singles and he won all his games. Mark McCoustra also made it out of the group stages after a phenomenal three-setter against Orkney’s Sam Groundwater, Sam winning 24-22, 20-22, 25-23.
Mark McCoustra played Shetland’s Joe Thomson in the round of 16 in the main draw. Again Mark had a three-setter, winning the first 21-12 then losing the next two 21-16, 21-16.
Mark Mackay faced Orkney’s Ross Groundwater in the quarter-finals, with Mark winning 21-6, 21-13. His semi-final opponent was Orkney’s Andrew Reid, who took the first set 21-12, but Mark came back to win the next two sets 21-19, 21-15.
The final against top seed Ganesh Balaji lasted 50 minutes, going the full distance of three sets. Mark lost the first 21-12, came back from 11-0 down in the second to win it 21-19, then took the third 21-18.
Shona was in Group A of the ladies’ singles where she won against her sister Aimee Keith (Shetland), 21-7, 21-12, and lost against top seed Jody Groundwater 21-17, 21-14.
Chloe was in Group B where she took on second seed Laura Muir. Chloe claimed the win 21-13, 21-18, and went on to top the group by beating Orkney’s Gemma Foulis 21-13, 21-12.
In the quarter-finals Shona came up against Orkney’s Shannon Leslie, with Shannon winning 21-15, 21-19.
Chloe defeated Rebecca Reid (Orkney) 21-12, 21-19, to book a semi-final meeting with Shannon Leslie. Shannon took the win 23-21, 22-20.