Sporting round-up 12 November 2026
FENCER Mhairi Gifford kept her British ranking high with a good result in the Welsh Open epee event in Cardiff last weekend.
In the event, which is probably the second largest of the UK season, Gifford placed 12th out of 88 of the leading British fencers.
The event consists of a poule, with the top seed fencing the lowest seed and so on in the first direct elimination round.
This means the pressure is great in the poules to get as many victories as possible without losing many hits.
Mhairi won all her fights in the poules bar one, losing 5-4 to the eventual winner of the event, Sophie Peat from England.
This resulted in her seeding 11th out of 88 and progressing through the direct elimination rounds, finally losing a closely fought bout 15-14, narrowly missing out on getting into the last 8.
She is also hoping to be named sportsperson of the year at the Shetland Sports Awards tomorrow night (Friday).
A SIX-strong team representing two Shetland swimming clubs travelled to Inverness to compete at the North District Open Championships recently.
Delting Dolphins swimmer Julian Okroj, 15, had another strong meet, reaching the final of every event he entered and recording personal best times in almost every race.
His weekend highlight came in the 200m backstroke, where he was crowned open champion, north district champion and north district junior champion.
In the 50m backstroke he was also north district and north district junior champion.
Okroj also secured north district junior titles in the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly, underlining his versatility and strength across a range of disciplines.
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To cap off his weekend, he also set new Shetland open records in 200m and 50m backstroke, and Shetland age 15-16 records in 200m Butterfly and 400m individual medley.
Sixteen-year-old Lockie Bullough, swimming for Hurricanes, enjoyed another strong championship.
Contesting eight events, he reached A finals in the 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke.
In the 100m backstroke he finished sixth overall and was narrowly touched out for the north district junior title in a closely fought race.
Swimming for Delting Dolphins, 15-year-old Ross Drakeford swam in six events, recording personal best times in five of them.
Fourteen-year-old Ellie Thompson also swam well across her eight events, delivering a great swim in the 200m backstroke.
She took almost five seconds off her personal best time to qualify for the B final, earning her place in her first open championship final.
Thompson also recorded a new personal best with strong swims in both the 100m backstroke and 200m butterfly.
Twelve-year-old Stella Okroj swam five events, recording four personal best times and achieving an excellent 20th-place finish in the 200m backstroke.
Fellow 12-year-old Ella Winks also swam strongly in all three breaststroke events.
She recorded impressive placings of 21st in the 100m breaststroke and 24th in the 200m breaststroke against experienced competition.
The clubs thanked sponsors NorthLink Ferries and the athlete travel award scheme.
UNST netball club celebrated its 20th anniversary with a ball in the Uyeasound Hall at the weekend.
The club, which was set up in 2006, was even celebrated in a video by Netball Scotland.
Commenting on their island location, the national netball organisation said there were not many clubs in the country with someone who was responsible for ferry bookings.
SHETLAND’S badminton contingent returned from an Orkney competition with a host of trophies and medals last weekend.
The annual bronze tournament in Orkney saw players from Caithness, Aberdeen and Glasgow also making the trip north to compete.
Thomas Calder was the men’s singles winner, beating Andrew Reid in the final, while Shetland’s Liam Flaws was also the plate winner.
Amy Sineath took silver in the ladies singles, with Kylie Wood the plate winner.
Flaws and Calder combined to win the men’s doubles crown, while Rory Irvine joined with Stephen Hill to win the plate prize.
Sineath was runner-up in the ladies doubles, alongside Shona Mackay.
Mackay was a winner in the mixed doubles though, with Calder joining her to win his third competition of the weekend. Flaws and Sineath were the runners-up.
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