Bargh beats pair of world champs

Cathy Bargh was victorious at the Scottish Open after beating two world champions back-to-back

Bargh won the over-50 women’s singles at the 15th Yonex Scottish International Veterans’ Championships last Friday after beating both halves of a World Championship-winning doubles team.

Irish duo Sian Williams and Pam Peard won the over-50 women’s doubles at the World Seniors Badminton Championships in Turkey last September - an event where Bargh bagged a singles bronze.

The three players all lined-up in the singles - which was played under a round-robin format - at the end of last week alongside Danish competitor Helene Boesen.

Bargh outgunned Williams, a former full-time international player and these days a fitness instructor, in two straight games and was back on court five minutes later to see off Peard in three. She later beat Boesen in two games to make sure of the title at the Inverclyde National Sports Training Centre in Largs.

“They’re world class players and I had to play them back-to-back so I’m really pleased,” said Bargh, who lost to Williams in the All-England Championships last year having beaten her in 2009 when the European Championships were held in Ireland.

Sedlescombe-based Bargh, a professional badminton coach at Freedom Leisure Summerfields in Hastings, felt that the weekly personal training sessions she has started doing with Richard Chappell contributed to her fine form.

See tomorrow’s Hastings and Rye/Battle Observers for the full article.