The forecast for Saturday 12th July was horrendous, so, with the agreement of the event organiser, museum manager, all the players and officials, the event was moved to the Sunday and what a scorcher it was!
Play began with the runners-up at St Andrews, Lenard Sobieracki and Justus Frenz, taking on one of the winners at St Andrews, Konrad Krawczyk, playing with a new partner in Scot Callum Moir. The court seemed to suit Moir and he was cracking some hits away, but with the strong block of Frenz and Sobieracki picking up the scraps, they took the first set 21-16. The second set was much closer and it looked for a long time that Krawczyk and Moir would take it, but Frenz and Sobieracki came back to narrowly win 25-23.
The next contenders were newly formed pairing Jaroslaw Pasko and Marcin Mosinski. Frenz and Sobieracki were too strong, and although Mosinski and Pasko fought hard, Frenz and Sobieracki won in straight sets 21-14, 21-16 to take the title of Glasgow Riverside Masters Champions for 2014.
All that remained was a battle for second place between Krawczyk and Moir and Pasko and Mosinski. This was a very close affair with Krawcayk and Moir taking the first set 21-19 and Pasko and Mosinski taking the second set 21-12, setting up a tense decider, which Krawczyk and Moir eventually won 15-11 to take second place.
After this there was time for spectators to come and try the sport and kids and adults enjoyed some great coaching from commentator Colin McGinlay and winner Justus Frenz.
The women’s event was next on the schedule and first match on court was a rematch of the Edinburgh Championship final, in which Cathy Smy and Lilian Lieber were out for revenge over Agata Zaremba and Gillian Lyall. Lyall and Zaremba took the first set and it all looked one-way traffic. Lieber and Smy came out fighting in the second set, however, and they won it 21-18 to set up a decider. Lyall and Zaremba found their form again and won the third set 15-10.
Lieber and Smy were back on court again against Nicola McKenzie and Anna Fischer. The fiset set was a quick one with Smy and Lieber taking it 21-7. The second set was more competitive, however Smy and Lieber won this too 21-14 to claim their first win of the day.
The final match was Lyall and Zaremba looking to win the Masters title playing against McKenzie and Fischer. This they managed to do with a win 21-15, 21-13 to claim the title of Glasgow Riverside Masters Champions 2014.
This was another fantastic event with plenty of spectators, good music and commentary from Colin McGinlay and some great play. Thank you to all who helped set up and take down equipment, Jack McKeown, Davey McEwan and Colin McGinlay and Andy Fleming, to the officials Sue Kee, Martin Beaton, Art Kop and Anna Fischer, to the Sports Council for Glasgow for their help in funding this event and of course to the Glasgow Riverside Museum for their hospitality.
Colin Paterson
Beach Commission President
