Published on:
13
June 2012
Alloa's Alan Oliver was as good as gold at the European Parabadminton Championships in Dortmund at the weekend.
The world silver medallist from Alloa took first place in the Standing Lower Class 3 and then scooped a bronze medal with Inverness player Steven Moodie in the men's doubles lower class 4.
Provost Tina Murphy led the plaudits to Alan, and said: "I would like to offer, on behalf of Clackmannanshire Council, our wholehearted congratulations to Alan on his sporting success. It is a wonderful achievement to be crowned European champion and it is well deserved and a mark of the hours of hard work and dedication that he has put into his sport to reach this level.
"The whole community are rightly proud of the success he has brought to Clackmannanshire and we wish him well for the world championships in France in September 2013."
Sunday's finals day belonged to Oliver. He won both his group matches to reach the knockout stages, where the top seed began with a bye before toppling team-mate Niall Jarvie 21-11 16-21 21-9. In the semi-finals he overcame Spanish joint third seed Simon Cruz Mondejar 22-20 21-9 before taking a closely-contested final against the other joint third seed Daniel Lee of England 21-17 21-19.
In the doubles Oliver and Moodie were third seeds and came through their group with two wins. But in the semi-finals they lost to Peter Schnitzler and Katrin Siebert of Germany 21-16 21-11 and had to settle for bronze.
Coach Kaity Hall said: "Alan's final was almost too difficult to watch, let alone coach. I was a nervous wreck afterwards as it was just so brilliant for Alan and the team it was difficult to hide my emotions. I must add I was not the only one."
This was the first time Scotland had been able to send a full team and a coach to a parabadminton event and Lyndon Williams, Chairperson of the Scottish Disability working Group, said: "The team can now hopefully plan for the World Championships in France in September 2013.
"We have a good squad, and with careful planning and working closely with BADMINTONscotland to develop a plan, I know we have a good chance to win even more medals on the world stage."
Medal winners:-
Alan Oliver - Gold Men's Singles - Standing Lower Class 3; Alan Oliver & Steven Moodie - Bronze Men's Doubles - Standing Lower Class 4.