Badminton: Glasgow event hailed as a resounding success

There weren’t any home players in action on the final day, but the first Scottish International Championships to be staged at the new Emirates Arena in Glasgow were still voted a resounding success.

A sell-out crowd of 4,500 watched the last day action and the players were unanimous in their praise of the arena that will host the Commonwealth Games in 2014. It was an event that must surely attract major sponsorship next year and, hopefully, the TV cameras.

On court, India’s Anand Pawar, the 2010 Champion, regained the men’s singles, three titles went to Japan and only England’s Marcus Ellis and Gabrielle White broke the Asian domination by taking the mixed doubles thanks to a 21-16, 21-16 win over the Dutch pair of Ruud Bosch and Selena Piek.

Sayaki Takahashi won the women’s singles and she was among those to heap praise on the Glasgow stage. “I am delighted to win the title and it is a fantastic venue, definitely one of the best in the world,” she said.

After 20 years at the Kelvin Hall, Anne Smillie, the Chief Executive of BADMINTONscotland, couldn’t have been happier with the move to the more modern venue. “I’m absolutely thrilled by the size of the crowd and the reaction from the athletes,” she said.

“Our own Kirsty Gilmour said it was the best arena she has ever played in and everyone says it is the best in Europe for badminton. We had huge support from Glasgow Life. They turned this wonderful building into a specialised badminton arena. There were 28 courts and it has been hugely helpful for the prestige of the sport.

“The only reason the Asians came this year is because of the venue and the reputation that the Scottish International Championships have built up over the years. I am sure that in future we will have an even bigger and better line-up of players and that should really help in attracting a major sponsor.”

Kirsty Gilmour and Jillie Cooper were the last Scots standing when they made it to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles where they lost 19-21, 9-21 to Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao, the Japanese pair that went on to win the title.

However, they did appear on court yesterday to share the Robert McCoig Quaich for the best performance by a Scot. Gilmour made it to the last eight of the singles, but a 7-21, 12-21 defeat by the experienced German, Olga Konon, proved that there is still room for 
improvement.

The 19-year-old has won tournaments in Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland this season and, last week, broke into the top 50 in the world singles rankings. Come the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the hope is that she will be one of Scotland’s medal contenders and the Championships could also have helped to unearth a future champion. Over the four days, 10,000 youngsters from schools throughout Scotland took part in Badminton Carnivals. After a couple of hours coaching, they then got to watch the game played as it should be.