Scotland’s best prepare for the Ashoka Scottish Nationals
Scotland’s best badminton players are finalising their preparations for the premier event on Scotland’s domestic calendar this weekend, the Ashoka Scottish National Championships.
Staged in the National Badminton Academy at Scotstoun Sports Campus from Friday 30 January to Sunday 1 February, the event has attracted entries from over 100 players across the five disciplines, including some of Scotland’s finest talent.
Action gets underway on Friday from 1400-1800hrs with men’s and women’s singles qualifying, followed by the main draw of the mixed doubles.
Saturday features main draw action in the remaining events, with semi-finals of all events played on Sunday from 1000hrs and finals from 1345 hrs.
In the men’s singles qualifying, 29 players will battle it out for eight qualifying places available in the main draw, while six players will compete for two women’s singles qualifying spots.
Whoever qualifies in position two in women’s singles will have their work cut out, facing second seed and former National Champion Lauren Middleton in the first round of the main draw while top seed and defending champion Rachel Sugden will play Shona Brown.
In the men’s singles top seed Callum Smith has been drawn in the same half as joint 3/4 seed Angus Meldrum, as well as Danny Robson and Thomas Fragell, both joint 5/8 seeds.
The bottom half of the draw is potentially even more competitive, comprising second seed Matthew Waring, 3/4 seed James Robertson and the remaining 5/8 seeds, Callum Menzies and Ciar Pringle.
In the men’s doubles, top seeds Alex Dunn and Adam Pringle are likely to have to overcome defending champions and second seeds Chris and Matt Grimley if they want to take the title.
Both pairs start with a first-round bye with Dunn and Pringle facing the winners of the match between Malik Clowes and Nathan Luo against Andrew Flockhart and Daniel Harris, and the Grimleys playing the winners of Alastair Campbell & Finlay Nelson against Peter Sawkins and Cameron Strachan.
Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance will hope to extend their stranglehold on the women’s doubles title as they aim for their seventh title in a row.
They are likely to face opposition from Holly Newall and Toni Woods in the semi-finals and Ishbel McCallister and Brooke Stalker in the final, should the draw unfold according to seeding.
Newall is a former women’s singles and doubles national champion, having won the singles in 2020 and the doubles in 2019 when she partnered MacPherson to the title.
MacPherson is going for her 10th straight title. In addition to her 2019 victory with Newall and her six wins with Torrance, she also partnered Eleanor O’Donnell to the top step of the podium in 2017 and 2018.
MacPherson is also aiming to defend the mixed doubles title she won with Adam Pringle last year, but has teamed up with regular partner Alex Dunn in 2026.
They are the top seeds and start as favourites, with second seeds Chris Grimley and Torrance aiming to meet them in the final but both pairs will face some potentially difficult ties in a strong mixed doubles draw – the action on Friday evening should be great to watch.
The Ashoka Scottish National Championships gets underway at 1400hrs on Friday 30 January. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here, with Badminton Scotland members entitled to a 50% discount on the face value of all tickets.
Draws and schedules are online here.