Kirsty Gilmour, Scotland’s top contender at this month’s World Badminton Championships in Glasgow, has been given an unexpected boost ahead of the event by finding herself seeded in the women’s singles.
The 23-year-old local woman admitted yesterday that she had not considered the possibility after dropping down the world rankings from a career high of 14 last year as a result of a long lay-off due to injury.
A recent upturn in form at major tournaments in Canada and the USA had seen her climb back up to 26th in the world, but Gilmour still believed she would have to rely on luck to avoid the tournament favourites in the early stages when the draw is made next week.
“I didn’t even know they were seeding down to 16,” she said, after being awarded the lowest of those slots.
“I knew the current world number one and some others weren’t playing but I thought I was just too far adrift at 26th in the world so didn’t think I had a chance and put seeding out of my mind because I also thought they were only going to be eight seeds, so it was a real bonus when Tat Meng Wong, my coach, told me this morning.”
The Commonwealth and two-time European silver medallist knows this will only add to the pressure on her to perform at The Emirates Arena when the tournament gets underway, not least because of that recent improvement in form, but she believes she knows how to deal with that.
“I’m trying not to think of it as expectation and more look at it as gathering momentum,” she said.
“In many ways this puts me in the best possible starting position, getting the benefit of seeding but not expected to medal.”
Gilmour appears to have benefited from a change of policy that establishes better gender equality since the Badminton World Federation guidelines previously indicated that there would be 16 seeds in the men’s singles draw but only eight in the women’s and it is a measure of Asian dominance of the sport that she is one of only three European seeds along with reigning and two-time champion Carolina Marin (3) and her Spanish colleague Beatriz Corrales (15).
The World Championships take place at The Emirates Arena from August 21 to 27.
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