It is always a welcome change when the sports pages of our newspapers are dominated by reports that don’t concern football.

It was indeed an eventful week in the Scottish press for our national sport – with the Kris Boyd and George Burley saga ongoing, the Edinburgh derby and Celtic’s Champions’ League clash with Manchester United.

But in this middle week of October – hardly a traditional seven days of activity in the global sporting calendar – there was plenty of variation in our newspapers – and some of our athletes in other sports enjoyed a bit of limelight for a change.

And of course it was all reported right here on In The Winning Zone, too.

But was it the most successful week of sport Scotland has enjoyed this year?  We think so.  Read on and make your own mind up...

Commonwealth Youth Games

Scotland won a total of 18 medals at the Youth Games, this year held in Pune, India. 

Three of those were gold, with Banff’s Kay Copeland winning the 50m prone rifle event, but it was Strathaven’s Douglas Scott who stole the show for Scotland in India: he won two golds in the pool in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.  He added a bronze in the final day in 4x100 medley relay.

In total, Scotland won 10 of their 18 medals in the water.  Four came from shooting, three from boxing, with one-a-piece being contributed by the athletics team, the wrestlers and the badminton players.

Scotland’s Commonwealth Youth Games medallists

Tennis

As reported on In The Winning Zone after the US Open final, Andy Murray has done exactly what was needed of him – maintained his form and consistency, and it has been rewarded with a second consecutive Masters Series win in Madrid.

Murray defeated Gilles Simon in straight sets in the final, but more significantly, he reclaimed superiority in his ongoing battle with Roger Federer.  Murray defeated the world number two in the semi-finals of the Masters, exorcising any demons he may have had after losing the US Open final to the Swiss last month.

Andy Murray wins Madrid Masters

Golf

The trio of Wallace Booth, Gavin Dear and Callum Macaulay coped with the pressure of being final day leaders admirably to go on and capture the World Amateur Team Championship in Adelaide, Australia.

The trio fought against horrendous weather conditions to win comfortably, by nine holes, over the USA.  Obviously being from Scotland gave them a considerable advantage over their transatlantic rivals when it came to coping with a storm! 

Their victory means Scotland are the proud holders of a unique double, being the World Champions at both amateur and professional level, as Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren won the pro version of the competition last December.

Trio win World Team Championship

Rugby

It was a historic day for Scottish rugby in the Heineken Cup when Edinburgh defeated Castres in France – the first time a Scottish side have recorded a victory across the channel.

Andy Robinson’s boys had so far failed to live up to their pre-season billing as serious contenders for the Magners League and dark horses for European success.  A narrow defeat by struggling Ulster followed by a meltdown against Leinster gave Mike Blair’s boys the incentive to deliver a performance worthy of their talents – and deliver they did.

Not only did they defeat the French side – who finished fifth in the 07/08 Top 14 – they also prevented them from scoring a try, and played by far the better rugby of the two, winger Mark Robertson combining with Blair to score one of the tries of the weekend.

Historic win for Edinburgh

Snooker

Never write off John Higgins.  Every time his star begins to fade, he will turn round and do something special, just as he did at the weekend by winning the Glasgow Grand Prix, competing in his first final since winning the World Championship in 2007.

Now, a Grand Prix isn’t nearly as big as a world title, but for Higgins to win his first ranking tournament on home soil in Glasgow is quite special.  It was also fitting that he equalled the feat of Stephen Hendry by claiming a record fourth Grand Prix title.

Higgins wins Glasgow Grand Prix

Shinty

Well, it wasn’t quite ‘shinty,’ but it was still a significant victory for Scotland.  In the annual clash between Scotland and Ireland in the shinty / hurling mixed rules international, it was the men from the mainland who came out on top over their Emerald Isle rivals.

Despite fielding two full Irish internationals, and even though the match was played in the cauldron of Kilkenny, the heartland of the Gaelic game in Ireland, Scotland proved too stubborn for the men in green, and prevailed as 13-12 winners.

Scots overcome Irish in Kilkenny

***

So, is this Scotland’s best sporting week of 2008?  Mid August must come close – when we picked up six Olympic medals, (three gold and three silver) but what do you think?