Kirsty faces a tough test
Hamilton ace seeded third in Glasgow
Hamilton’s Kirsty Gilmour has been drawn in the same half of the women’s singles as China’s Cai Yanyan at the Scottish Open Badminton Championships in Glasgow, later this month.
The reigning women’s singles champion will have to overcome a number of difficult challenges in her bid to retain the title after being seeded third for the competition, at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, from November 21-25.
Kirsty will start her campaign against England’s Georgina Bland, with a second-round match against Denmark’s Mette Poulsen her likely reward.
Although Gilmour can boast a 6-0 head-to-head record against Poulsen, she will be aware of the threat posed by the Dane, who won a European bronze medal last year.
There would then be a potential quarter-final against sixth seed Rachel Honderich of Canada, or Swiss No.1 Sabrina Jaquet to negotiate, before she can begin to think about a semi-final match against the Chinese top seed.
Kirsty said: “This year’s Scottish Open is maybe one of the strongest we’ve seen, in terms of world rankings for the ladies’ singles.
“Each round is going to be extremely tough, so I will have to be prepared from the very start. You can never take anything for granted in sport, but I know I can always rely on the Scottish crowd to fill up the seats and give a huge amount of support to me and the other players.
“I know everyone looks forward to stepping out in to the Emirates Arena every year at this event, and this year will be no exception.”
In the bottom half of the men’s doubles draw, Motherwell’s Alex Dunn and Adam Hall play Russia’s Konstantin Abramov and Alexandr Zinchenko in the first round, with last year’s runner-up Jacco Arends and Ruben Jille their likely opponents in the second round.
Dunn then pairs with Eleanor O’donnell in the mixed doubles, and if they can win their first-round tie against a pair from qualifying, Selena Piek and Jacco Arends are their likely second-round opponents.
Commenting on the seeding lists, Badminton Scotland chief executive Keith Russell said: “Last year’s champions in all five events will return to Glasgow this year, but the majority is so high that none of them will be defending their title as top seeds.
“Indeed, last year’s women’s singles champion, Kirsty Gilmour, is third seed and reigning men’s singles champion Toby Penty is seeded sixth.
“We have players who have medalled at Commonwealth, European, world and Olympic level, many of those within the last 12 months, and I’m delighted the event has attracted athletes of such a high calibre. It should be a fantastic five days of badminton and the fans at the Emirates Arena are in for some spectacular action.”
Tickets for the Scottish Open are available at badmintonscotland. org.uk