The word was they are almost indistinguishable but it was hard to know why as the brothers Grimley held court at the Scottish Junior Badminton Championships because telling them apart was as easy as telling the time.

It really was. Look closely. Matthew is the one wearing a watch.

Beyond that, admittedly, it is a bit more difficult in terms of their movement when dancing around the court, rarely breaking into anything approaching a run; their touch, racquets flicking out in all directions, almost magnetically drawn to the shuttlecock; their awareness, instantly knowing where both partners and opponents have left the slightest glimmer of space; and their judgement, almost reptilian in their sense of what will or will not land in the areas they are protecting.

Oh, that and the fact that appearance wise, for all that their mother claims they are not identical twins - and she should know - they might as well be to the rest of us when on court.

In the under-17 boys singles final, the first of three they contested either against one another or together yesterday afternoon in collectively cleaning up all the available prizes, they did those unaware of the watch code the favour of wearing different coloured shirts.

Previously this season they had met in four finals, winning two apiece, but Matthew's timing was that bit superior from the off after he won the exhausting opening rally with a shot that caught the top of the net, then rattled off the next seven points.

Gamely as Christopher fought he eventually succumbed 21-17 and Matthew steadily moved away in the second to take it 21-11 and the title.

That brought out the girls under-17 finalists and Eleanor O'Donnell's 21-15, 21-15 victory over Toni Woods took just long enough to let the Grimleys get their breath back and sort out any grievances.

"We knew we had to play doubles together so it would be rubbish if we didn't work together and we would end up losing," Matthew explained.

Christopher readily concurred, noting that it was hardly a novel experience given this season's tournament experience alone.

"It's not really that difficult because we're used to playing each other, so we've just got to deal with it," he said.

Deal with it they did and - this time in matching purple shirts -they were back on court for a match which provided perspective in terms of what this pair of 15-year-olds, who represented Scotland at the recent European Under-19 Junior Championships, are achieving.

Even in a domestic under-17 final, let alone an international competition where they won through two rounds of matches against opponents who have left school, it looked like boys against young men as they took to the court.

Early on the additional power Calum Atterbury and Robbie Patterson inevitably boast, seemed to be making a difference but the little dervishes quickly wore them down with that combination of relentless energy and instinctive shot-making talent.

It was a joy to watch them play and after their 21-13, 21-17 defeat even the older boys seemed appreciative of having just been part of something special.

The women's doubles then saw the singles finalists pair up to beat Shona Whillans and Gemma Wright 21-5, 21-13 bringing the boys quickly back on court for a match that would decide whether Matthew or Eleanor would complete a personal clean sweep of titles.

It looked like being Matthew's day when he and Lily Farnood reached game point in the first 20-17 up, but five straight points from there saw Christopher and Eleanor take that game and they won the second 21-18 to take the title and level the twins account on the day.

Ironically that meant neither Grimley twin was among the quartet of players to win three titles yesterday, Callum Smith of Duns and the Grimley's fellow Glaswegian Alice Campbell in the under-13s, as well as Edinburgh's Julie MacPherson in the under-21s all matching Beith's O'Donnell in winning all the events they had entered.

However what makes them remarkable is that with only one another to beat, it seems, the Grimleys can defend those they won yesterday for the next two years and surely will unless all concerned decide they are better off pursuing tougher challenges that could set them up to do great things in their sport.