Gilmour leads Scottish hopes at Emirates

It’s all change at today’s Scottish International Championships. The new Emirates Arena takes over from the Kelvin Hall as the tournament venue and Bothwell’s Kirsty Gilmour is the leading Scottish hope. The teenager will take to the court in Glasgow today as one of the seeds in the women’s badminton singles.

Susan Egelstaff was the last Scottish singles winner – in 2009 – and she carried the pressure of Scottish favourite for many a year. Now retired, this year’s 
Olympian will be wearing a new hat as a member of the media.

For 19-year-old Gilmour, it is another chance to add to an 
already sparkling season. She has won titles in Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in the past couple of months and has risen to No 51 in the world. As a result, she has been seeded seventh at her home Championships and opens her account today against Finland’s Sonja Pekkola before, hopefully, advancing to an intriguing 
revenge clash against Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt, the No 12 seed and world No 86, in the second round.

Kjaersfeldt defeated Gilmour in the last 16 stage of the singles last year and went on to become the Championships’ standout player. She reached the singles final and won the mixed doubles.

England’s Elizabeth Cann is the No 10 seed and the only former winner in the singles draw. One of Egelstaff’s great 
career rivals, she suffered a shock defeat to Gilmour in the second round last year.

“It’s great to be at the new Commonwealth Games Arena and I’m sure the championships are going to be a huge success this year,” said Gilmour, a second year student at the West of Scotland University. “I’m going to be quite nervous carrying home hopes. But I’m delighted with my start to the season. I was down at the Olympics as part of the Team GB Ambition Programme and it really inspired me to work harder and make sure I have a chance of getting to Rio 2016.”

Glasgow’s Kieran Merrilees is the leading Scot in the men’s singles, but has a tough start against the Austrian eighth seed Michael Lahnsteiner.

In-form Chou Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei) is the top seed in the men’s singles following victories in the Bitburger and Iceland events, while Malaysia’s Chung Seang Tan is second seed in a strong men’s singles line-up. Anand Pawar of India, the 2010 champion, starts against Austria’s Daniel Grassmueck.

In the men’s doubles Paul van Rietvelde is fourth seed with English partner Marcus Ellis. They open against Scots Martin Campbell and Patrick MacHugh, the recent beaten finalists in the Iceland International.

In the women’s doubles, 
Gilmour is sixth seed with Jillie Cooper, the Edinburgh player who won the title back in 2008.

Cooper is also sixth seed in the mixed doubles alongside Robert Blair and they face a first-round test against England’s Chris Coles and Jessica Fletcher.