Gutted Gilmour is denied Euro medal Hamilton shuttler bows out in quarter-final
A valiant effort from Hamilton’s Kirsty Gilmour in her hunt for a third consecutive medal at the European Championships fell agonisingly short as she bowed out in the quarterfinals.
Gilmour (24), who won back-toback silvers in the 2016 and 2017 women’s singles, would have been guaranteed a medal had she found a way past Dane Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt.
However, the second seed was defeated 21-14, 21-16 in the last eight in Huelva, Spain.
Kirsty, who won bronze in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, kept in touch with Kjaersfeldt in the first game, before the number six seed took a 9-4 lead.
The Scot then showed her fighting spirit to reduce the deficit to 12-11, but Kjaersfeldt moved away with the opening game from there to take it by a seven-point margin.
Gilmour tested her opponent even more in the second game, and took the lead on three occasions, but Kjaersfeldt eventually gained the upper hand to secure victory.
Gilmour admitted frustration with her performance and said she is taking a week off to recover, following a “crazy period”.
She said: “I have a lot of thoughts about the match and that’s part of the problem.
“I felt hesitant with my shot choices and was over thinking, instead of just playing and doing, but Line played a solid game, so credit to her.
“I’m looking forward to training a little now and preparing for my French club finals this weekend, then I’m going to have a wee to rest and recover from this crazy period.”
There was disappointment for Motherwell’s Alex Dunn and Adam Hall in the men’s doubles as they lost a first-round epic to Jelle Maas and Robin Tabeling, going down 29-27 in the decider. The Scottish duo had valiantly levelled proceedings after going a game behind, but their Dutch opponents finally converted their fifth match point to triumph 21-16, 19-21, 29-27 in 65 minutes.
And while there was frustration at coming up so agonisingly short, Hall insists he and Dunn are proud of how they battled and are in good shape heading into the future. He said: “We’re obviously disappointed not to win, especially having been leading 18-13 in the third,” said Hall. But there are plenty of positives for us after a very high-quality match.
“Robin and Jelle have been one of the most consistent pairs in Europe this season.”