Badminton Scotland said the championships were held over the weekend before its 6 October report and described Lothian player Yingfan Wang as a three-time Under-15 winner at the Yonex MCFM East of Scotland Junior Championships at the Jack Kane Centre, but its published final-results list records the boys’ singles, boys’ doubles and mixed-doubles winner as Yingfan Wan. Badminton Scotland’s narrative said Wang was a treble winner, while the scorelines attached to Wan cannot be linked to Wang without clarification of the surname discrepancy.
The published boys’ singles result listed Yingfan Wan as beating Yuanxi Cui 17-21, 21-19, 21-14. The final went to three games, with the listed winner recovering after losing the opener before taking the second game by two points and the decider by seven.
The final linked the two leading Under-15 boys’ results: Cui was Wan’s singles opponent and his boys’ doubles partner. Cui and Wan beat Fraser Hogg and Kavin Raman 21-12, 21-17 to take a straight-games title.
Three finals, three different demands
The results list recorded Yingfan Wan and Emily Jobson as mixed-doubles winners after a 21-15, 19-21, 21-19 victory over Divyam Goyal and Akshara Chavan. It was another three-game contest and, like the singles final, was settled by a narrow two-point margin in the final game.
Of the three finals listed under Wan’s name, only the boys’ doubles was decided in two games. The singles and mixed-doubles finals both went the distance, while the mixed final featured two games decided by two points. That comparison shows the competitive pressure indicated by the published final scorelines, while Badminton Scotland’s account separately described Wang as the Under-15 treble winner.
Badminton Scotland said there was a strong entry across the Under-15 and Under-19 competitions, with several closely contested semi-finals and finals, particularly in the younger age group. The published results also showed Cui winning doubles alongside a runners-up finish in singles, giving him a prominent role in the Under-15 boys’ events.
Columbine and Mackenzie also take doubles
Josie Columbine was another multiple winner in the Under-15 competition. The Highland player won the girls’ singles after defeating Sophie Mackay 21-12, 19-21, 21-9, then partnered Annika Sinha to beat Anvita Awasthi and Mackay 21-14, 17-21, 21-10 in the girls’ doubles final.
Columbine’s results meant she won both girls’ titles despite being taken to deciding games in each final. Her singles and doubles successes also ensured Highland representation at the top end of the Under-15 girls’ draw, with fellow Highland player Chloe Mackenzie also producing a double-winning performance in the Under-19 events.
Mackenzie and Anshita Jaiswal won the Under-19 girls’ doubles title by beating Shona Brown and Lucy Degg 17-21, 21-5, 21-19. Mackenzie then partnered Max McCabe to a 21-17, 21-17 victory over Arnav Saraswat and Jaiswal in the mixed-doubles final. Saraswat had earlier won the Under-19 boys’ singles 21-4, 21-8 against Calum Tsang, while Melrick DSouza and Nathan Luo took the boys’ doubles 21-17, 21-14 over Ben Ross and Lingyun Xiao.
The remaining Under-19 results reinforced how several finals turned on reversals or tight finishes. Jaagruti Mannem beat Lucy Degg 21-15, 21-7 in girls’ singles, while Mackenzie and Jaiswal recovered from losing the first game against Brown and Degg before taking girls’ doubles 17-21, 21-5, 21-19. Their deciding game was settled by two points, the same margin as the listed Wan and Jobson mixed-doubles decider. In contrast, McCabe and Mackenzie’s mixed-doubles win over Saraswat and Jaiswal, and DSouza and Luo’s boys’ doubles victory, were straight-games finals. Those results give the Under-19 picture alongside the reported Under-15 treble without suggesting that results from the separate age groups were directly comparable.
The next major junior date in the East of Scotland programme is the Yonex MCFM East of Scotland Gold Under-13 and Under-17 Junior Championships, scheduled for 7 and 8 November at the Jack Kane Centre. Badminton Scotland said entries are open and close on 23 October.