Kirsty Gilmour does Scotland proud reaching the semi-finals of the Swiss Open
Kirsty Gilmour reached the semi-finals of the Swiss Open after a fearless fight against some of the world’s best players.
The eighth seed started her campaign with a straightforward win over Japan’s Asuka Takahashi before taking a close match against India’s Ashmita Chaliha.
Iris Wang was next to face the Bellshill born Gilmour who has a strong history against the American player.
Of their past three meetings, Gilmour has come out on top and she was keen to continue her winning streak.
Wang played a good game but the Scot pulled ahead, securing her place in the semi-finals with a 21-18 21-16 win.
Through to the semi-finals, Gilmour was ready to face the music as she came head to head with her long standing rival, world number 11, Busanan Ongbamrungphan.
The pair have met three times since 2018, with Gilmour falling short of a win at each meeting.
Following a 21-16 loss in the first set, Gilmour threw everything at Ongbamrungphan. She made a heroic comeback after trailing 3-11 in the second game, levelling at 18 apiece, and for a moment it seemed she could push Ongbamrungphan to three sets.
But the fourth seed powered through, proving to be Gilmour’s nemesis once again and ending her gallant campaign 21-16, 21-18.
“It was a pretty good week for me, I can feel things I’m working on in training transferring into matches. I’m really happy with how my body is holding up and I’m managing to get into a really focused headspace for each match.
“Overall I’m super pleased with the week but I’m looking to push on and clinch these last few points in these close matches” said Kirsty on her week in Switzerland.
And there were some great performances across the board for the Scots.
Hall can be proud of his run with partners Alex Dunn and Julie MacPherson as they reached the second round of the men’s and mixed doubles.
In the men’s doubles, Dunn and Hall went down 21-16 21-12 to sixth seeds Ong Yew Sing and Teo Ee Yi head on after a win against Singaporean pair Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean in the first round.
Hall and MacPherson put on a fine performance in an all British clash against Scottish Open winners Callum Hemming and Jessica Pugh, comfortably beating the pair 21-14 21-14.
They then went on to face sixth seeds Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie where they put up a spirited fight.
The Malaysian duo had the edge over Hall and MacPherson despite the tightly played first match and the Scot’s succumbed to their prowess, losing 22-20 21-8.
MacPherson was also in fighting spirit in the Women’s Doubles with partner Ciara Torrance where they took Yvonne Li and Iris Wang to three sets in an enduring battle.
Over an hour of play ensued and the Scottish pair were not going down without a fight, however, Li and Wang took the third set, ending their campaign 21-19 15-21 21-16
Elsewhere in the tournament, Dunn and Torrance bowed out at the qualification stage after Indonesian pair Akbar Bintang Cahyono and Marsheilla Gischa Islami ended their main draw hopes.
Full results can be found on Tournament Software and streams from each court are available on BWF TV.