Laing wins World silver medal in Basel
A total of eight Scots travelled to Basel to compete in the BWF World and Para-Badminton World Championships.
Four of those players competed in the Para-World Championships with one defying the odds to return to Scotland with some well-deserved silverware.
Bobby Laing and his English partner Rebecca Bedford were unseeded going into the event, despite having picked up a silver medal at the recent Irish Para-Badminton Championships and a bronze medal at the European Para-Badminton Championships last November.
But they defied the seeding to reach the final, securing World Championships silver medals to add to their growing haul.
The Anglo-Scottish pair, competing in the SS6 mixed doubles, were handed a tough draw but managed to topple the second seeds Vitor Goncalves Tavares and Rubi Milagros Fernandez Vargas in the group stages in three tight games 21-16 20-22 21-18.
A 21-12 21-17 win over Ryan and Colleen Gioffreda of the USA meant they qualified for the knock-out stages as Group B winners.
This gained them a bye into the semi-finals where they ended up drawing the second seeds for a second time.
And it was a contest they won for a second time. Despite trailing 15-19 in the third set, some determination and smart play saw them pull it back to win 21-11 23-25 23-21.
In the final they met England’s triple mixed doubles World Champions Andrew Martin and Rachel Choong, but the top seeds proved too strong, winning 21-15 21-13 to win gold for a fourth consecutive time.
Speaking afterwards Laing said: “Competing at the Para-Badminton World Championships in Basel was an amazing experience.
“There was a fantastic atmosphere for the entire week and I’m glad I was able to bring some silverware back to Scotland – it’s quite surreal to think that I am now a World Silver Medallist.
“My focus is now on the Danish International to finish off my year, then onto a couple of tournaments at the start of 2020.”
Laing also finished second in Group E of the SS6 men’s singles to qualify for the knock-out stages, where defeat to joint 5/8 seed Miles Krajewski ended his campaign but in the men’s doubles, Laing and Ireland’s Andrew Moorcroft lost two tight matches and were unable to make it past the group stage.
Alan Oliver qualified through the group stages of the SL3 men’s singles after impressively battling through a couple of tough three set matches.
He beat Leonardo Zuffo of Brazil 11-21 21-13 21-16 and Frenchman Geoffrey Byzery 21-9 20-22 27-25 to reach the last 16 where he met Ireland’s 5/8 seed Umesh Vikram Kumar, losing out 21-7 21-14.
Colin Leslie was handed difficult draws in both singles and doubles and was unable to progress through the group stages.
Mary Wilson gave herself a chance to qualify from group C of the SL4 women’s singles when she beat Khadija Khamuka of Uganda 21-10 18-21 21-6, but she couldn’t win either of her remaining group matches meaning she finished third in the group with only two qualifying.
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