“I thought that it was the best event to date – infact from a running point of view I think this was probably the best I ever managed (… there have been a few in the last 14 years!!) The team on the ground and help that was giving was brilliant from start to finish. Really well done to all the guys and girls associated with the Ayr event: South Ayrshire Volleyball Club, Active Schools and South Ayrshire Council all contributed massively to the success of the inaugural Ayr Event.”
Gerry MacDonald, President, Beach Commission
“AYR WE GO! AYR WE GO! AYR WE GO!”
Shout it from the rooftops sand people, what a great place to hold an event. Over a mile of soft sands, heaps of free parking, a wee cafe and only 30p to take a pee (location joke).
For those of you who were there, you all played your part in its success. When I rolled up at about quarter past eight I thought to myself – that’s some beach. I have been here before – the photos would be in black & white and I had hair oh and it was last century.
We were tying in with the South Ayrshire Council event (The Holy Fair and Armed Forces with Pipes in the Park 2018) on the Lower Green but after a quick reccie with Ross McKelvie from South Ayrshire Volleyball Club and a chat with the council events team we agreed to pitch our nets close to the wee Seafield Cafe where the playing sand was much wider and would allow the nets to run perpendicular to the promenade.
Good choice it turns out and the squads started to unload and set up the courts. It was just before 9am when we started pitching courts and we were aiming to have them ready for 10.15… no pressure.
Well, we did it. Player registration sorted. Courts numbered and ready to go. Music playing and games kicked off for 11am. Hooray!!!
Men division 1 split into 2 pools of 4, whilst the women were split in 4 pools of 3. Play was fluid and we romped through the pools section no problems.
In women’s pool one newbie pairing of Raveen Gill & Carly McKinlay (9th seeds) quickly found their sand legs and put up a spirited fight in their battle with eventual pool winners Magdalena Golczyk & Monica Krysinska (5th seeds) going down 15-10 in the tie break set. Another 3 setter saw top seeds Karolina Punovuori & Anna Fischer come off 2nd best against Magdalena Golczyk & Monica Krysinska in a match where serving won the day.
in women’s pool two, Emilia Marciszewska & Sydney Maxwell withdrew prior to the event (food poisoning-eek), leaving only one match where Sharon Versteeg & Lisa Andersson Walker (2nd seeds) played Mhairi Agnew & Elaine Krawczyk (10th seeds). Second seeds came out on top in this one winning 21-18,21-13.
Women’s pool three found SUettes Katie Barbour & Claire Ramage (3rd seeds) transferring their indoor skills to the sand and secured top slot in the pool winning both their games 2-0. The battle for the other quarter final slot saw Gabriele Balysevaite & Magdelana Gorna (7th seeds) overcoming the energetic pairing of Caitlin Anderson & Melissa Hood (11th seeds) in 2 sets
In the final pool, women’s pool four, Emma Waldie & Jennifer Lee (4th seeds) saw off both other teams in comfortable fashion to finish top in the pool. The junior pairing of Kirsty Ross & Heather Hamilton (12th seeds – who were upgraded to Division One) found the better of Sam Fowler & Kelsie Braidwood to take 2nd slot in the pool and a place in the quarterfinals.
Editor’s note: Oh my lord. Are you going to write a bit on all the games? jeezy peeps fella, get on with it.
Erm ok… moving swiftly along – you can check out all the other results in our new results thingy that I put together over the last couple of weeks AYR RESULTS … it’s a work in progress and I’m hoping that come this weekend’s event at Troon we will be paper free(ish).
The women’s final saw a pretty close match between no 2 seeds, Sharon Versteeg & Lisa Andersson Walker against no 3 seeds, Katie Barbour & Claire Ramage. Versteeg & Anderson Walker won in 2 sets, 22-20, 21-15 – winning their first ever tour event. They were very happy.
The men’s final turned out to be more of a one-sided affair with Ioannis Panayiotakis & Dimitris Challoumas (2nd seeds) winning in two against Stewart Caldwell & Fraser Dunlop (4th seeds) taking the 2nd set 21-13.
AND FINALLY
FAIRPLAY AWARD to go to Adrian Kulpanowski who, in the pool match against Ioannis Panayiotakis & Dimitris Challoumas, pointed out to the ref that he had committed a net fault which had been missed. The score was 11 all in a very tight match. Thank you for your honesty and thank you for making the 370 mile round trip from Aberdeen – sir, sand certainly runs through your veins.
Hope to see you all again soon. and thanks once again to all of you: players, supporters, drivers and feeders you all made the day spectacular. You were awesome.
Cheers Gerry
