Kirsty Gilmour holds Andy Murray in the highest regard and, having been invited to help set the tone for the TOTAL BWF World Championships, Scotland’s top women’s racquets player followed her fellow British No.1’s example womanfully at The Emirates yesterday.
Just as had been the case at Wimbledon in the summer when Murray was asked about Sam Querrey, the man who had just beaten him, becoming the first American since 2009 to reach a Grand Slam semi-final and corrected the male questioner by noting that he was “the first male player” to do so, Gilmour and two of the leading women in the game were subjected to what many would regard as casual sexism at the pre-tournament press conference.
“The body language between you three is very good, there’s lots of smiles, obviously it’s amazingly competitive, but what’s it like behind the scenes? It’s not stroppy women is it or is it very friendly?” asked the event’s MC.
Her colleagues – Carolina Marin and PV Sindhu – may have contested the Olympic final last year but on her home patch it was Gilmour took the initiative by responding drily: “Men can be stroppy as well.”
The 23-year-old could hardly be closer to home – she lives just 15 minutes from the venue – so there was doubtless a determination to minimise any risk of women she respects being offended, however it is also a measure of Gilmour’s growing stature in the women’s game that, seated between two of the leading contenders for the women’s singles title, she felt sufficiently sure of herself to make such an intervention.
It was all the more apt that she did so, however, given that only a few minutes earlier two of the greatest male players of all time, China’s Lin Dan and Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, now approaching the veteran stage of their respective careers – Lin Dan is 33, Lee Chong Wei is 34 – had been invited to comment on the fact that, while the focus has traditionally been on the men’s game, women’s singles has had the greater prominence over the past year.
There was some uneasy laughter in the room before Lee engaged PC mode, replying: “I think for badminton it is good. In the last few years in women’s singles China has become very strong and in other countries the sport is strong too with Carolina Marin becoming Olympic and world champion for Spain. There are a lot of players coming from Japan and Thailand too, which I think is good for women’s singles.”
There is, however, no doubt that for all the regard in which the likes of Marin and Sindhu are now held, the major coup for organisers is the presence of these two men who are regarded as the superstars of the sport.
Both could be complacent about that, but they showed commendable awareness that, as was underlined by the acute absence of local media at this gathering on the eve of a global competition.
“We want badminton to be a main sport in the wider field of sport, not only in Asia but all over the world. Many young players are competing with us which is a challenge, but we really want badminton to grow strong worldwide,” said Lin Dan, through an interpreter.
“We need a strong authority to support us in promoting badminton to a higher level. I’m aware that many people don’t even know about badminton, which is a shame. I hope that after we retire many new stars can pop up and bring badminton to all of the world.”
To that end the rise in prestige of the women’s game can only be a good thing, but for all that she has been teased by her friends about the way her face is adorning posters across Glasgow, the up-side for Gilmour is that whereas Lin Dan risks being mobbed every time he ventures outside in his home town in Longyan, she has the option of walking between home, hotel and venue this week.
As the only seeded Scot, she knows, however, that there is only so much normalising of her experience that she can achieve, but her mantra is that the expectation directed her way is a privilege rather than a pressure and she is determined to embrace that.
Even more than when Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games, one result of which is that her name adorns the wall of this week’s host arena as a result of the silver medal she claimed, she is excited by the prospect, recognising how privileged she is to have had two such opportunities present themselves while she is in her peak playing years.
Yet as familiar as she is with the surroundings she knows it will be very different from either Glasgow 2014 or the annual Scottish Open Grand Prix that is held in the same building and attracts high class fields.
“Competing in the Emirates Arena is not new to me and competing in a World Championships is not new to me, but competing in a World Champs in The Emirates Arena is definitely new to me,” she acknowledged.
She also has some time to get used to the event before entering the fray , which is the biggest benefit of being allocated the last of the 16 seeded slots Gilmour noting that: “It gives me a little more time to prepare, see how things are flying in the hall and see how everyone else is coping and gather some intel about the conditions.”
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