Findlay aims to keep title

Erskine badminton ace Rebekka Findlay is preparing to defend her Scottish National title in Perth.

The best badminton players in Scotland will head for the city on a week on Friday to compete in the Yonex Scottish National Championships with Commonwealth and European silver medallist Kirsty Gilmour topping the line-up at the Bell’s Sports Centre.

But in the women’s doubles, Findlay will be aiming to retain the title she won last year with Gilmour.

This year Findlay will be back with regular partner Caitlin Pringle as she looks for a second National title.

They are number one seeds with last year’s runners-up MacPherson and Eleanor O’Donnell seeded to meet them in the final.

Elsewhere, five-times women’s singles champion Gilmour will be playing in her first tournament since the Olympic Games, having been sidelined for the first half of the season after knee surgery.

Last year’s beaten finalist and second seed Julie MacPherson, who was also runner-up in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles, and 2014 and 2015 singles finalist Holly Newall will be among the players trying to deny Gilmour title number six.

But Gilmour will also try for a first mixed doubles title when she partners Patrick MacHugh in a strong line-up.

The mixed doubles will provide the Friday night action on February 3 and Gilmour can expect to be on court on all three days of the Nationals.

It will give her the vital match practice that she is looking for before returning to the international circuit in the countdown to the World Championships 2017 in Glasgow from August 21-27.

MacPherson and Martin Campbell will be looking to go one better than last year’s runners-up spot but they are only second seeds behind Adam Hall and Eleanor O’Donnell.

Alex Dunn teams up with Rebekka Findlay and Christopher Grimley with Ciara Torrance as the joint 3/4 seeds but unseeded MacHugh and Gilmour can’t be discounted.