Double doubles were the order of the day for Scotland’s representatives in Reykjavik yesterday as victory for women’s pair Julie Macpherson and Eleanor O’Donnell was immediately followed by a third title win in four competitions for Alex Dunn and Adam Hall.

It was a first senior title for Macpherson and O’Donnell who had gone into the Icelandic International as second seeds and they had to battle back from a game down to Danish pair Emilie Furbo and Trine Villadsen to claim a 17-21, 21-13, 21-17 win that felt like a significant breakthrough.

“We’re both delighted to have won our first international tournament,” said O’Donnell. “Over the last few months we’ve had a few tough losses in semi-finals so to finally get the win was amazing.”

The two 20-year-olds have established themselves as the outstanding Scottish women’s pair, well clear of their nearest rivals in the world rankings, whereas the event in Iceland was an opportunity for the leading Scottish men’s pairs to demonstrate their current form.

On the back of their wins at the Irish Open and the Turkey International at the tail end of 2017, Dunn and Hall had been the favourites, while reigning Scottish champions Martin Campbell and Paddy McHugh, who won in Iceland in both 2014 and 2015, were also seeded to reach the final.

After taking the opening game comfortably, Campbell and McHugh were edged out in the quarter-finals by Nicklas Mathiasen and Mikkel Stoffersen 12-21, 21-18, 21-19, the Danes going on to meet Dunn and Hall in the final where they were beaten 21-16, 21-18.

For 21-year-old Hall and 19-year-old Dunn the victory provided the latest confirmation of how well they are gelling as a partnership less than a year after re-forming it with a view to representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.

“Alex has only been playing doubles properly since last year so he’s only going to get so much better over the next few years which is really exciting for both of us and we’re feeling really good about our form right now. We had a great finish to 2017 winning two titles in three weeks so to continue that into 2018 is really encouraging for us,” said Hall.

“As a partnership we’re feeling really comfortable around the court with each other. It did help having a year together during our junior careers, so it wasn’t too hard of a transition last April when we came back together.

“We feel that people are really starting to notice us around the circuit now and really starting to worry about our game.”

With Commonwealth Games selection looming, Hall noted that the successes they have enjoyed could also help with seeding on the Gold Coast and he said that he and Dunn are looking forward to next weekend’s national championships in Perth, having lost to Campbell and McHugh in the final last year.

“That was our first tournament back together so we’re looking forward to seeing the difference playing after a solid year together,” he said.

“For me personally I’m looking forward to trying to regain the title

I won with Bob Blair two years ago and I’m pretty excited about playing mixed with Ciara Torrance as she’s improved a lot over the last few months and is a real exciting player for us for the future.”

Another member of Badminton Scotland’s elite programme, Christopher Grimley, meanwhile also enjoyed double delight at the Swedish Junior 2018 in Uppsala yesterday as he triumphed in both the men’s singles and men’s doubles.

Grimley and twin brother Matthew were top seeds in the men’s doubles and lived up to that billing by convincingly dispatching Spanish pair Joan Monroy and Carlos Piris in the final. triumphing 21-5, 21-19, but having gone into the singles as fifth seed. he out-performed that ranking, beating Dutch second seed Dennis Koppen 21-16, 21-16 in the semi-final and German seventh seed Lukas Resch 21-19, 19-21, 21-17 in a tough, 47-minute final.