Lightbody luckless in semi-finals
Stuart Lightbody may have been disappointed not to have turned three Ulster Open semi-finals into at least one final but many of the province’s top players would gladly have swapped his achievement.
The Alpha and Ulster player took only 20 minutes to ease past Mark Cobbe in the single quarters 21-14 21-7 and into the semi-finals but his reward was a clash against Nhat Nguyen, one of the top young prospects in Irish badminton.
The Alpha player lost the first set but managed to make a bright start to the second, reaching eight first only to eventually succumb to the eventual tournament winner as Nhat went on to beat second seed Owen Marron in the final.