Glasgow boost Scots bid for world junior badminton title

Christopher and Matthew Grimley are bound for Bilbao.

Congratulations to Glasgow School of Sport, who will provide the bulk of the Scotland squad for the BWF World Junior Championships in Bilbao at the start of next month.

Twins Matthew and Christopher Grimley, Toni Woods and Ciara Torrance are all studying at the School of Sport, based at Bellahouston Academy.

Eleanor O’Donnell, the third girl in the team is a former Glasgow School of Sport pupil with Alex Dunn – who left Dalziel High School in  the summer – the only odd man out.

The young Scots have been drawn to meet Australia and England in the group stages from 2-6 November.

A total of 54 nations will be competing across 16 groups in Bilbao with China the top seeds and Thailand second favourites in the battle to win the Suhandinata Cup.

The six Scots will also contest the following week’s individual events in the Eye-Level Cup competition at the same venue.

The Bilbao squad will be coached by 2004 Olympian and the 2014 CommonwealthGames medallist, Robert Blair.

Anne Smillie, chief executive of Badminton Scotland said: “All six players have already made their mark at junior  level and we wish them every success at the two big events coming up.

“We have already marked them down as having a bright future in the sport and playing in a World Junior Championships will be a great experience for them on their journey towards senior badminton.”