The Bon Accord Under 17 singles was held today at Whitehall BC in sunny conditions.

The 10 entries were divided into 2 sections of 5 with games played on a round robin basis. The top 2 qualifying for the semi-finals.

In section B, the two favourites for qualifying were the Whitehall duo of Ellis Adie, who won a bronze medal at the Scottish Youth National Championships back in July and John Mackay. It was their head-to-head meeting that would ultimately decide the section winner and runner-up. It was John who won the game 10-5. Therefore, John won the section with Ellis runner-up. For the record, Archie Scott (Newhills) was 3rd, Aimee Ewen (Newhills) 4th and Harry Campbell (Whitehall) 5th.

In section A, previous winner Zak Morrison (Newhills) was favourite to win the section and duly did winning all 4 of his games. The runner-up position went to the 3rd criteria for deciding as points and shot difference couldn’t separate Whitehall’s Rhiannon Mackay and Jake Hamilton. They both had a record of 2 wins with a -2 shot difference. It therefore came down to shots scored and with an advantage of 34 v 31, Rhiannon edged through to her first under 17 semi-final! For the record, Jake was 3rd, Ewan Mutch (Whitehall) 4th and William Milne (Woodend) 5th.

The semi-finals line-up, played over 12 ends, was

Zak Morrison v Ellis Adie
John Mackay v Rhiannon Mackay

Zak took an early 3-1 lead however Ellis scored 8 unanswered shots over the next 4 ends to lead 9-3 after 7 ends. Two ends later, it was 11-4 to Ellis and the match ended after 11 ends with Ellis winning through 12-5.

The other semi-final was a brother-sister battle, which added to the atmosphere! After 4 ends, Rhiannon led 4-2 and at the halfway point, the game was tied at 4-4. John then edged ahead 8-4 with 3 ends left and was 3 ahead playing the last end. A last end count of 2 for John secured a 11-6 win.

So onto the 15 end final. Would John repeat his earlier win in the section or would Ellis reverse the result to cap an excellent season.

It was John who started better winning the first 4 ends to lead 5-0. After 7 ends, John led 6-2. On ends 8 and 9, John scored a 3 and a 2 to move into a convincing 11-2 win. Ellis was now requiring to win ends with multiples to have a chance of winning, so singles on the next 2 ends left Ellis 7 down with only 4 ends remaining. End 12 and a single to John and Ellis scored a single on end 13 – 12-5 to John with 2 ends left. At the next end, the players shook hands with John the winner 12-6!

We would like to thank Whitehall BC for being an excellent host today. Thanks for supplying markers whilst the food and drinks were greatly appreciated on such a warm day.

Thanks also to our umpire Jim Fowlie who had to use virtually all the tools in his bag, including string and the mirror!

Thanks to the parents and other family members for your encouragement and support to the players.

A big thank you to Alan Petrie for all the work you do with the players during the season.

A huge thank you to all the players for entering the competition. The standard of play today by everyone throughout the competition was excellent and you should all be very proud of your efforts.

Finally, thanks to our sponsor, our own Match Secretary Cameron Millar, for your continued support which is very much appreciated.

The season is nearly finished however the under 17s are back at Whitehall on Saturday night for the last Hat of the season which will decide the Under 17 Hat winner!

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