THREE badminton events took place in the Wee County last week as the sport grows in popularity in the area.

On Wednesday, December 28, the final league fixtures of the CPSSA Badminton leagues took place at Alloa Academy.

After 81 matches between 19 teams involving 150 children, six primary schools have now qualified for the league finals which will be held at Lornshill Academy in January 2019.

The final six teams who will be competing for the annual shield are; Abercromby, Alva, Menstrie A, Redwell A and B and Tillicoultry A.

On Thursday November 29, 70 pupils from the three secondary schools were joined for the first time by Dollar Academy to take part in the annual Clackmannanshire Badminton Championships held at Alva Academy.

Pupils were entered by their schools and took part in singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions over three age groups; U14, U16 and U19 with 167 entries in total across the 15 events.

Clackmannanshire Sports Development has worked in partnership with Active Stirling, Falkirk Community Trust, the Central Schools Badminton Group and Badminton Scotland to create a pathway for pupils to progress from this event to the regional competition.

The regional competition will be held on Wednesday, December 12, at The Peak, Stirling.

This was the fourth year that the event was held at Alva Academy during the school in-service days and this year also saw the presentation of the Overall School Shield where points were awarded to the top four finishers in each of the 15 categories.

The points were added up and the shield was awarded to Alloa Academy for the first time.

Once again, the standard of play was very high across all the competitions with many games decided on the very last point.

Matches were played at a frantic pace and the ability of the players continues to improve year after year.

Special mention goes to Archie Baxter who won the U14 boys singles and to his sister Darcy Baxter who won the U19 girls singles, making sure the event was a family affair.

On Friday, the week of badminton was rounded off with the primary championships hosted at Lornshill Academy.

This event was also a qualifier for the regional badminton championships which will be held at The Peak, Stirling in February 2019.

Over 70 pupils from local primary schools participated in boys and girls singles and doubles and the play was excellent with exciting rallies and matches being played.

This event was supported by the school’s sports leaders who gave up their day off school to referee every match.

If anyone is interested in local badminton opportunities please contact sports development for further information 01259 452350.