The under-17s battled it out in the last of the four Caithness junior badminton age-group championships, held on Sunday in the East Caithness Community Facility.
There were 21 competitors, 10 girls and 11 boys. Chloe Mackenzie (Dunnet) won the treble – the fourth consecutive season she has done so in the under-17 championships.
There was also a double triumph for Wick’s Alexander Mackay.
In the main draw of the girls’ singles, Chloe Mackenzie defeated Wick’s Chloe Begg in the first semi-final 15-9, 15-5.
Ava Cook (Ormlie) saw off Wick’s Ashlyn Gunn 15-8, 15-8 in the second semi.
Chloe won the final 15-4, 15-2, having dropped only 27 points across all her singles matches.
Blayr Howden (Wick) beat Freya Swanson (Ormlie) 21-17 in the consolation final.
The first semi-final in the main draw of the boys’ singles saw Arran Johnson (Ormlie) taking on Wick’s Qida Du, with Qida edging it 15-13, 15-13.
Alexander Mackay defeated Ormlie’s Matthew Cook, the U15 boys’ singles winner, 12-15, 16-14, 16-14 in a close second semi.
Alexander won 13-15, 15-13, 15-12 in the all-Wick final, another hard-fought contest.
Liam Sinclair beat Rory Nicolson 21-8 in the all-Wick consolation final.
Chloe Mackenzie and Ava Cook won 15-4, 15-5 against Hallie Bremner and Freya Mackay in the first of the girls’ doubles semi-finals. In the other, Wick duo Chloe Begg and Ashlyn Gunn came through after three sets against Sophie Mackay and Freya Swanson 15-9, 9-15, 15-11.
Chloe and Ava won 15-4, 15-7 in the final.
In the consolation final Hallie and Freya Mackay won 21-9 against Rebecca Henderson (Ormlie) and Blayr Howden.
Ormlie’s Matthew Cook and Arran Johnson were successful in the first of the boys’ doubles semi-finals, defeating Callum Aiken and Connor Carter (both Wick) 15-7, 15-7.
In the other semi, an all-Wick contest, Qida Du and Ronin Kean lost out to Alexander Mackay and Lewis Malcolm 11-15, 15-4, 15-8.
The final went to three sets as Alexander Mackay and Lewis Malcolm got the better of Matthew Cook and Arran Johnson 15-8, 13-15, 15-8.
The consolation final was an all-Wick clash with Liam Sinclair and Rory Nicolson defeating Callum Aitken and Connor Carter 21-9.
The first semi-final in the main draw for the mixed doubles saw Chloe Mackenzie and Arran Johnson get through 15-5, 15-7 against Qida Du and Freya Swanson.
The second brought a 17-15, 16-14 victory for Ormlie’s Ava Cook and Matthew Cook over Wick’s Freya Mackay and Alexander Mackay.
Chloe and Arran won 15-11, 15-9 in the final.
The consolation final saw Lewis Malcolm and Hallie Bremner beat their Wick clubmates Rory Nicolson and Ashlyn Gunn 21-17.
Kerry Mackenzie from Caithness Junior Badminton Club said: “As with previous championships, we saw some fantastic games and rallies, with all competitors showing good sportsmanship throughout.
“Huge thanks must go to all the helpers – without them, these competitions would not be possible. And massive thanks to Highland Workwear for sponsoring the event.”
