THE first ever team from the Pan-Disability Lisburn Badminton Club, based at the National Badminton Centre, competed in the Scottish 4 Nations Disability Badminton Championships in Largs during last weekend returning with a fantastic haul of two Gold and four Silver medals.
The players competed in the Learning Disability, Wheelchair and Dwarf Classifications.
The club's major success came in the Dwarf category with Niall McVeigh winning the Men's Singles title, recording another sensational win over World Champion And
rew Martin from England, in straight sets 23-21, 21-7.
Niall then teamed up with Krysten Coombs from England in the Men's Doubles. In a closely contested final they narrowly failed to take their opponents, Ollie Clarke and Andrew Martin from England, to three sets, losing out on a 21-15, 25-23 scoreline.

Back (left to right): Eugene McVeigh (Assistant Manager), Tracey Hughes (Manager), Luke Kells, Colin O'Neill. Front (left to right): Laura-Lee Jenkins, Michael Smith, Emma Farnham, Niall McVeigh, David Kelly, Luke Irvin
In the Mixed Doubles Niall added to his medal tally further when he teamed up with Deirdre Nagle from Scotland. In the final they took the silver medal after losing to England's Krysten Coombs and Rachel Choong 21-13, 21-16.
Emma Farnham collected two silver medals in the Dwarf category. In the Ladies' Singles she finished runner-up to Rachel Choong from England. Rachel, partnering Rosie Scott, then capped off a fantastic weekend by completing her hat-trick when she lifted the Ladies' Doubles title, following a retirement during the final by Emma and her partner Deirdre Nagle due to illness.
Luke Irvine competed in the Dwarf category and won one of his three matches in the Men's Singles. He partnered David Kelly from DAA (NI) in the Men's Doubles and Emma Farnham in the Mixed Doubles, but unfortunately the partnerships they were competing against were just too strong and experienced for them to record any victories.
The Pan-Disability Club's second Gold medal was won in the Learning Disability Men's Doubles Class 2 category. Colin O'Neill and Luke Kells played exceptionally well to exceed all expectations and lift the title when they defeated Andrew Davis and James Savory from Wales 21-16, 13-21, 21-15 in their final match.
Both Colin and Luke played very well in their singles matches with Luke winning two of his three matches, losing only to the eventual Silver medallist, Stephen Davies from Wales, in the Class 1 category. Meanwhile Colin competed in Class 3 winning one of his three matches, but could easily have turned the tables against his other two opponents.
Michael Smith and Laura-Lee Jenkins, having only started to play the game of badminton five months ago, competed in the Wheelchair Class 3 events and found the competition to be of an extremely high standard. Both players gained valuable experience and are already looking forward to increasing their training and practice regimes over the next few months in readiness for the next Championships in August 2008.
Within the Wheelchair category the acquisition of a sports wheelchair specific to the demands of badminton is imperative for both of these players to reach their full potential. Both received positive feedback from other players and coaches in Scotland with the main point being how dramatic their development will be once the Pan-Disability Club is able to find a sponsor to help the club purchase these vital wheelchairs.
The Pan-Disability Lisburn Badminton Club's next event will be the Welsh 4 Nations Disability Badminton Championships in Cardiff on August 15-17 and it hopes to match and even exceed the triumphs of this Scottish trip.
Competing in Scotland was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Ironside Trophies which provided the team T-shirts, and Sport Lisburn, The Baird Group and Express Parcels for their financial contributions.
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