Scots lose out in Dubai and Malaysia
Scottish interest has come to an end at the Dubai Para-Badminton International and the Malaysia Open.
Kirsty Gilmour was up against He Bingjiao in the second round in Malaysia having ousted Russia’s Evgeniya Kosetskaya in round one but the Chinese World No. 7 was too good and although Gilmour pushed her all the way in the second she eventually lost out 21-15 22-20.
At the Dubai Para-Badminton International on Thursday Leslie won the first game in his SL3 men’s singles against Thailand’s Mongkhon Bunsun but eventually lost out in a marathon match lasting almost an hour 17-21 21-19 21-18 before his singles campaign was ended with a 21-12 21-14 defeat by second seed Ukun Rukaendi of Indonesia.
In the SL3-SL4 men’s doubles Leslie and Canada’s Pascal Lapointe lost 22-20 21-12 to India’s Premkumar Ezhil and Prakash Stephen while Bobby Laing and Peruvian Hector Tunque lost 21-9 21-11 to China’s Lin Naili and Luo Guangliang in the SS6 men’s doubles.
On Friday Laing and Tunque finished off their doubles campaign with a win, beating Italy’s Bernardino La Chiatto and Australia’s Luke Missen 21-11 21-7 but Laing lost to Morat 21-17 21-14 in the singles.
What they said
Bobby Laing – Short Stature (SS6):
“While my results have been fairly disappointing, this tournament has given me a great opportunity to see the massive increase in standard of play and to get an indication of what I need to do to get closer to the top seeds.
“My next tournament will be the Irish International in Dublin in June. Until then, I plan on focusing a lot of my efforts into getting fitter and improving stamina. This should help me to improve my results as the year progresses.”
Colin Leslie – Standing Lower (SL3):
“I feel this tournament in Dubai has been a massive step forward as I was able to keep going through the heat and pain barriers in my group with some long three-setters only to narrowly miss out on winning my matches.
“Then to play well against the No.2 seed from Indonesia, making very few unforced errors and knowing that I could have kept going is a big plus for me.
“Massive thanks to Sarah Naylor (coach) for pushing me through my training sessions. Next event now for me is Canada at the start of May.”
Full results from Dubai are here and from Malaysia here
Click here to read our previous report from Dubai and Malaysia
The National Disability Badminton Squad is looking for sparrers to help our Paralympic hopefuls in their training. Men and women of all ages who play at club or county level would be welcome. If interested, contact Sarah Naylor on sarahbokpt@hotmail.co.uk