Scots seeded at European Championships
Two-time European Championship silver medallist Kirsty Gilmour has been seeded third for this year’s competition in Madrid as she looks to add an elusive gold to her collection.
Gilmour, beaten by Carolina Marin in the 2016 and 2017 finals, earned her third European medal with bronze in Kyiv last year and begins her 2022 journey against world no.111 Gayle Mahulette in the second round.
A battle of the Brits could be in store should Gilmour come through unscathed against the Dutch shuttler, with England’s Abigail Holden potentially lying in wait in the third round.
Gilmour, who reached the Swiss Open last four in March, is in the same half of the draw as second seed Mia Blichfeldt, meaning a possible semi-final meeting between the two as the 28-year-old seeks a fourth European podium.
Callum Smith makes his European Championship debut in the men’s singles and takes on Fabio Caponio first up.
The Italian is ranked 430 places above Smith in the world rankings, with Swede Felix Burestedt to play the winner in round two.
Two Scottish pairs are entered in the men’s doubles draw, led by sixth seeds Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall.
Dunn and Hall, European junior silver medallists in 2017, begin their campaign against Croatian pair Luka Ban and Filip Spoljarec and could meet France’s fourth-seeded Popov brothers, Christo and Toma, in the quarter-finals.
Scotland’s own pair of brothers, Christopher and Matthew Grimley, open up against Spain’s Jose Molares and Jaume Perez.
The 22-year-olds, who took European junior silver the year after Dunn and Hall and pushed Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik hard at March’s YONEX All England Open, could face fifth seeds Jeppe Bay and Lasse Mølhede in the second round.
Scotland also have a seeded duo in the women’s doubles in the shape of Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance.
The fifth seeds made their debut in this competition last year, when they fell at the first hurdle, and begin against world no.63-ranked duo Margot Lambert and Anne Tran on this occasion.
Danish second seeds Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen are MacPherson and Torrance’s potential quarter-final opponents should both pairings advance that far.
Hall and MacPherson team up in the mixed doubles and go in as seventh seeds, with Greek pairing Petros Tentas and Eleni Moutevelidou awaiting in the first round.
Christopher Grimley and Eleanor O’Donnell face a tricky test against fifth seeds Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek, who have six European Championship medals between them.
The action from the Spanish capital begins on April 25, with the tournament running until April 30.