Home talent triumphs at the Scottish Open

The beautiful beaches of St Andrew's played host to some of Scotland's top teams last weekend, with Lynne Beattie and Mel Coutts claiming their first gold medal of the year.

The Scottish pair returned home for the competition following a Beach Pro Tour event in Switzerland earlier in the week, joining a 24 team-strong event across both men’s and women’s competitions.

WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Following a Saturday of intense pool play, the final 4 teams contended for medals on Sunday, as Beattie/Coutts took down their fellow Scottish national team pairing of Katie Barbour and Rachel Morrison in the semi finals 23-21, 21-15. On the other side of the draw, it was the Southern Open Champions Lorena Tussis and Gerda Bersautaite who found themselves in yet another final after defeating the local team of Aitana Schlie and Mhairi Agnew, 21-14 21-17.

In the bronze medal match, Barbour/Morrison and Schlie/Agnew contested a tight battle to decide who would step on the podium. Whilst Schlie/Agnew were able to secure the first set, it was the experience and grit of Barbour/Morrison that shone through as they went on to win the next two sets and secure the bronze medal, 15-21, 21-13, 15-10.

The women’s final was not an unfamiliar match up for all players involved; both teams had met the previous weekend during a SideOut Grand Prix semi final, in which Tussis/Bersautaite had triumphed in a 3 set-thriller.

This week however proved to be a different story, with Lynne and Mel fresh of a strong international performance and competing on their home sand. They took the lead early from the beginning and were able to show their dominance, securing the title 21-14, 21-8.

Lynne Beattie was thrilled to secure her team’s first title of the year.

"We are delighted to take the win in our first UKBT event of the season as a team and look forward to building on some strong performances throughout the tournament. It was great to have teams travelling from across the U.K. to compete in the Scottish Open and look forward to future opportunities to bring the UKBT to Scotland."

MEN'S COMPETITION

Meanwhile in the men’s competition, it was once again home talent that found themselves in the final four; Ruari Souter and Lier Martinez De Moretin secured a sport in the final after defeating the youngsters Cole Turnbull and Ewan Ramsay 21-14, 21-18. The second semi-final proved a tighter affair, with Karol Baginski and Marek Biczysko securing the win over Lendard Sobieracki and Nicolas Stougiannos 19-21, 21-19, 15-10.

Sobieracki/Stougiannos were able to bounce back in the bronze medal game, despite a fantastic fight from Turnbull/Ramsay. In a three set thriller, they secured the medal winning 21-17, 23-25, 15-12.

Drama and determination back dropped the men's final; Karol Baginski had been struggling with a calf-injury for most of the tournament, with his team considering a withdrawal after Saturday’s games.

After some treatment and taping, Baginski/Biczysko were able to push through to the final game, but couldn’t quite find what they needed to overcome Souter/Martinez. Displaying a strong and consistent performance, Souter/Martinez triumphed 21-18, 21-18 to secure the Open victory.

Here is what Souter had to say about the game:

"It was great to see the UKBT Open series making a stop close to home. The battle against our opponents in the final was well fought, who would have deserved the win as much as us. It was great to see a lot of hard work leading up to the event coming into play, and I believe they key to our success was maintaining our psychological strength and focus throughout"

The Open series continues next weekend in Bridlington, as Sky Ball Volleyball Club delivers the Northern Open on June 24-25th.