Scots seeded in four out of five events as world’s third oldest badminton tournament returns to Glasgow
The draw has been made and the final countdown to the return of the Scottish Open Badminton Championships can begin.
Scottish players are seeded in four of the five events and poised to challenge for top honours across the board.
Two-time champion and Team GB Olympian Kirsty Gilmour is the top seed in the women’s singles draw.
Kirsty, now ranked world No.19, will begin her campaign for a third title against Taipei’s Wen Chi Hsu on 26 November at the Emirates Arena.
Posing a threat on her side of the draw will be Estonian third seed Kristin Kuuba and Australia’s Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen.
Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall are also top seeds for the defence of their men’s doubles crown in front of a home crowd.
They have been drawn to face new Thai pairing Ruttanapak Oupthong and Sirawit Sothon in the first round.
Hall said: “We’re really looking forward to finally getting the chance to defend our Scottish Open title!
“Looking at the draw, there will be no easy games for us which is to be expected with how strong the entry is this year but I’m sure the home crowd will once again get us through the tight ones.”
Twin brothers Christopher and Matthew Grimley are seeded eighth in the same draw and they begin against Malaysia’s Boon Xin Yuan and Wong Tien Ci.
Among their rivals for glory in Glasgow will be in-form English duo Callum Hemming and Steve Stallwood, seeded third and facing Spaniards Ernesto Baschwitz and Alvaro Leal in their opener.
Meanwhile in the women’s doubles field, Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance are seeded second.
MacPherson and Torrance’s first challenge comes in the form of Malaysia’s Ng Qi Xuan and Desiree Hao Shan Siow.
The discipline is dominated by European pairings but Canada have a strong entry in top seeds Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai and sixth seeds Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu.
There is a great opportunity for Joshua Apiliga to test himself against quality opposition in the men’s singles.
He has been drawn to face Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon in the first round, who reached the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics where he was beaten by eventual gold medallist Viktor Axelsen.
Joshua claimed a landmark result by beating Germany’s Max Weisskirchen at February’s European Team Championships before going down to formidable Dane Anders Antonsen.
England’s Toby Penty takes on India’s Kiran George first up and second seed Ygor Coelho of Brazil will meet Luis Enrique Penalver.
In the mixed doubles Hall and MacPherson, who reached the semi-finals two years ago, are seeded second which yields a first-round tie with India’s Vishnu Panjala and Rutaparna Panda.
Denmark are particularly strong in the mixed discipline with Mikkel Mikkelsen and Rikke Soby seeded first and Rasmus Espersen and Christine Busch fourth.
On the event returning following its hiatus, Councillor David McDonald, Chair of Glasgow Life and Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “We’re delighted to support the Scottish Open Badminton Championships, and to welcome the event back to Emirates Arena to be played before a crowd!
“With a strong Scottish contingent of players drawn in the competition, we’re all very much looking forward to cheering on the home players, as well as the international athletes who will make Glasgow their home for the week.”
This year’s event has received funding support from Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund, established by EventScotland in conjunction with Scottish Government to help Scotland’s events sector plan and deliver events in response to Covid-19.
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “Scotland is the perfect stage for events, and we are delighted to be supporting the Scottish Open Badminton Championships through Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund in conjunction with the Scottish Government.
“The Championships is a key part of Scotland’s portfolio of annual sporting events and it is great to see its return in 2021 with such strong field of players.”
The Scottish Open is taking place from 25th – 28th November at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow. Tickets for the world’s third oldest badminton tournament are on sale at https://badmintonscotland.org.uk/tickets/
The seeding and the draw have been done according to the World Ranking dated 2 November 2021 and can be found here