Prelims

Scotland Ladies B team player Jenny Lawson was up against a newcomer to ladies pool, Donna Duncan. Donna played very well in her first tournament and secured a final frame victory to secure her place in the last 32. Experienced A, team internationalist, Claire Dempster, was up against another new player, Sandra Evans; Claire progressed with an impressive 6-1 victory. Jackie Williamson was next up against yet another new player, Gillian Moran and showed her experience securing her place in the next round with a fine 6-2 victory. Kathy Paton and Amanda Cutt was a very tough preliminary match and very difficult to call; well done Kathy in progressing after securing a final frame victory. A welcome and happy return for Angie Mackay who disposed of current B team internationalist Vandana Hegde by 6 frames to 2. Katie Paterson played exceptionally well and had chances to defeat Yvonne Ewing at an early stage; Yvonne however managed to keep her nerve and progress with a 6-4 victory. Laura Colquhoun was up against another new player, her friend Aideen McElhinney; Laura progressed very comfortably with a 6-0 victory.

Last 32

The last 32 commenced with Donna Duncan, fresh from her impressive first round victory being up against seasoned internationalist Claire Dempster; Claire maintained her impressive form winning this match by 6 frames to 0. Kathy Paton had another tough tie when playing Jackie Williamson; Kathy likes final frame deciders because for the second round in succession, she progressed via a final frame decider. Angela Mackay was drawn against Yvonne at this stage, where Yvonne progressed with a comfortable 6-1 victory. Laura Colquhoun played well in her match, defeating Sandra Bell by 6 frames to 1. Heavily pregnant Heather Stewart secured her place in the next round courtesy of a 6-0 victory. Lynsey Selkirk was up against another newcomer, Laura Wiseman; Lynsey secured her place in the last 16 via a 6-4 victory. Seven times champion Linda Gillies progressed to the last 16 courtesy of a 6-0 victory of Raina Evans. Louise Hillman and fellow B team internationalist Pauline Selkirk met at this stage and Louise progressed via a 6-4 victory. Fellow A team internationalists Elaine Campbell and Denise Laing had a great match with both players playing very well, Elaine came through in a final frame decider. Terri Lapsley and Katie Black was another match that went to the final frame with Terri progressing. Yvonne Saunders defeated Jackie McIntyre by 6 frames to 2; Gillian Hayes had to use all her experience to get past a determined Lisa Dominick by 6 frames to 4. 2005 Champion Diane Colville came through in yet another final frame victory over Gemma Clyde. Newcomers Michelle Kennedy and Angela Kane was a hard match to call, Michelle won this by 6 frames to 4. Two times champion Shona Lucas defeated fellow A team internationalist Gaynor McHaffie by 6 frames to 2. Final match of the last 32 saw Kim Black progress courtesy of a 6-1 victory over Naomi Clark.

Last 16

The first tie of the Last 16 put Claire Dempster against international team mate, Kathy Paton. Claire played very well in securing a 6-3 victory. This set up a quarter final match against Scotland Ladies Manager Yvonne Ewing after she booked her place by defeating a talented player, Laura Colquhoun by 6 frames to 1. Lynsey Selkirk against Heather Stewart was another tough match to call and yet another that went the distance before Lynsey secured her quarter final spot. Matches between Linda Gillies and Louise Hillman tend to go the distance and this was yet another, Linda has to draw on her experience to secure her quarter final spot. Elaine Campbell played exceptionally well in defeating young Katie Black by 6 frames to 0. Yvonne Saunders and Gillian Hayes was another match that was extremely difficult to call, Yvonne played well securing a 6-4 victory. Diane Colville defeated Michelle Kennedy by 6 frames to 4 but believe me, this match was very close with both players cueing extremely well. Shona Lucas put paid to Kim Black’s hopes of her emulating her success of 2008 by winning 6 frames to 2.

Quarter Finals

Sunday morning at 11:00 am and the quarter final stage of the competition commenced. I may be biased but when you look at the standard of player left in the tournament, this must be one of the hardest titles to win.
First match up and live streaming in operation put Claire Dempster against Yvonne Ewing, both experienced members of the Scotland Ladies team. This match could have been won by any of the two players, and the standard was very good. Claire held her nerve to advance to the semi finals with a 7-6 victory. Linda Gillies looked to be playing very well whilst securing her semi final spot by defeating Lynsey Selkirk by 7 frames to 2. Elaine Campbell defeated Yvonne Saunders by the same score line (7-2) which set up a semi final against Scotland Ladies A Captain Shona Lucas after she defeated Diane Colville by 7 frames to 1.

Semi Final

Four of Scotland’s finest female players were left in the competition at this stage and it really was very difficult to call the winner. All four were playing very well and determined to be crowned 2009 champion.
First semi final put Claire Dempster against seven times champion Linda Gillies. This was quite a tactical match and Linda came through by 7 frames to 5. The other semi final was an all out potting affair with Elaine Campbell playing Shona Lucas. Elaine took an early lead before Shona pegged her back and came through in a final frame decider.

Final

Two of Scotland’s most experienced players, Linda Gillies and Shona Lucas were contesting the best of 13 final. Linda secured the title of 2009 Scottish Ladies Champion with a 7-3 victory. The final was played to a tremendous standard especially since Shona was struggling to make her train home! After watching the weekend’s event unfold, Linda was a worthy champion and someone who seems to find another gear at the Scottish Championships. Enjoy your year as champion as I’m sure the field will be trying to rip that trophy from your firm grip in 2010 Linda