The Scottish Open Draw: Everything you need to know across every event
The 2024 Scottish Open Badminton Championships promise to deliver thrilling matches and intense rivalries as top international and local players compete in Glasgow at the prestigious Emirates Arena. With a history of showcasing world-class talent, this year’s event is no exception, featuring prominent athletes, rising stars, and formidable pairings across all categories. From Scots vying for glory to international players seeking victory, the tournament will highlight the skill, strategy, and passion of badminton at its best.
For the full Draw break down head over to tournament software: Scottish Open 2024 | Tournamentsoftware.com
And to get your tickets to come and see all the action click here: sport.lokkaroom.com/badminton-scotland/tickets/the-scottish-badminton-championships-2024-FrQplD8i
Mens doubles
Fresh from earning silver at the Irish Open, Chris and Matt Grimley are the top seeds in the men’s doubles and eager to perform on home soil. Speaking about their seeding, the twins emphasized that it doesn’t influence their preparation for tournaments.
The Grimley twins, champions in 2021, regard their previous win as their fondest memory from the last eight Scottish Opens they’ve played. Meanwhile, the Irish Open winners, William Kryger Boe and Christian Faust Kjær from Denmark, are seeded second, setting up the possibility of a rematch in Glasgow. Could the home crowd tip the scales this time?
Men’s doubles qualification -four Scottish pairs, four spots open. How many will get to the main draw?
Adam Pringle and Alex Dunn are a relatively new pairing ahead of the Scottish Open but have already made a big impact on the Senior circuit. Battling their way out of qualification in tournaments such as the Arctic Open they’ve caused upset and drama in a classic Scottish way across Europe.
They sit top seeds of men’s doubles qualification with only one match standing in the way of the main draw.
They aren’t the only Scots in qualification. Three other pairs are looking to take one of the four qualifying spots. Lewis Coghill and Evan Kenny are automatically in the second round of qualification. Coghill has already had his taste of Gold this year in mixed doubles Irish U19 with Kenny having competed in Latvia and Ireland already this year.
The final two pairs are Callum Crangle and Josh Taylor and Callum and Tyler Smith. If the Smith brothers win they face Pringle and Dunn to make it to the main draw.
Women’s doubles
Julie Macpherson and Ciara Torrance have been ranked first in the draw for womens doubles improving on their second seed for 2023 Scottish Open. Last year they narrowly missed out against Japan’s Maiko Kawazoe and Haruna Konishi for a spot in the final. Since then they won their first International Gold at the Belgium open earlier this year with their moment on the top podium spurring them on for more.
Their first game will be determined from the outcome of England’s Chloe Birch and Estelle Van Leeuwen who face French Sharone Bauer and Emilie Vercelot. Birch and Van Leeuwen were finalists this week at the Irish Open eventually losing out to Natasja P. Anthonisen and Maiken Freuergaard of Denmark who are also competing in Glasgow.
Danish pair Julie Finne-Ipsen and Mai Surrow are second seeded with Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez from Spain as third seeds.
In Qualification Lisa Curtin and Abbygael Harris from England are top seeds but Under 19 Irish gold medalists Ishbel Mccallister and Brooke Stalker are also only one game away from making to the main draw on Friday.
Scots Pranavi Singh and Katie Stewart face English Emily Carpenter and Shruthika Senthil in their opening qualifier match.
Mixed doubles
There are two Scottish Pairs in the mixed double draw: Alex Dunn and Julie Macpherson and Adam Pringle and Rachel Andrew. Whilst neither are seeded both have had recent success in Europe. Dunn and Macpherson reached their first final together at the Hylo Open, claiming silver. Pringle and Andrew also had a fantastic run in the Dutch Open proving they should never be underestimated.
Dunn and Macpherson’s opening game will be against the victor of Sweden’s Jakob Ekman and Nathalie Wang taking on visitors from across the pond Canadians Jonathan Bing Tsan and Crystal Lai.
Pringle and Andrew have a tough opening game as they take on the 2023 Luxembourg Open winners, German duo Patrick and Franziska Volkmann.
England’s Callum Hemming and Estelle Van Leeuwen sit as first seeds for the event and coming off their most recent win at the Dutch Open the pair will be looking to impress again. Second seeds Jones Ralfy Jansen and Thuc Phuong Nguyen also already have a gold medal under their belt this year from the Estonian International.
The Mixed Doubles qualification is filled with Scottish talent: Evan Kenny and Ishbel Mccallister, Josh Taylor and Katie Stewart, Angus Meldrum and Katrina Chan, Lorde Jeremiah Lim and Krisha Jen Aguilar.
Lewis Coghill and Brooke Stalker feature in qualification, winning Gold earlier this year at the Under 19s Irish Open and on their last year in the junior circuit.
Matthew and Christopher Grimley are also partaking in mixed doubles, a rare sight for the twins. Matthew pairs with Danish player Sara Thygesen whilst Chris teams up with fellow Scot Ciara Torrance. These matches will be certainly ones to watch to see a whole new side to duo and behind the scenes knowledge can reveal that the trash talking between the brothers has already begun.
Womens singles
No Scots in the women’s singles main draw but players from around the world will be battling it out in this event. The seeded entries include Julie Dawall Jakobsen of Denmark at one and Tanya Hemanth of India at two with France, Denmark, Bulgaria and Chinese Tapei also in the mix.
Jakobsen won the Dutch Open last year and made it to the semi finals at the Irish Open and the Hylo Open in recent weeks. Rachel Chan is Canada’s youngest ever national champion and Hemanth won the Bendigo International earlier in the year.
There are three Scottish Women in qualification with Belgium bronze medalist Rachel Sugden sitting as third seed in qualification with her opening match against Poland’s Zuzanna Jannkowska, a player who is normally seen playing doubles. Her and her partner Wikoria Dabczynska were knocked out of the round of 16 in the Hylo Open by Julie Macpherson and Ciara Torrance this year.
Current national champion Lauren Middleton is also in qualification with her opening match against Leona Lee of England, the sixth seed in qualification and silver medalist at the Croatian International this year. An exciting addition to the draw is Abbie Brooks who has been recently moved up into the draw. Within Scotland Brooks this year has won the Lanarkshire Open and the West of Scotland Championships as well as competing at the Czech Open, Latvia International and Croatian International this year.
Mens singles
In the men’s singles main draw a single Scot is featured – Callum Smith the wildcard from the borders. Unable to compete last year due to injury, the 22 year old has had an incredibly successful 2024 including his first international medal at the Kampala open in September and just this week beating a previous Olympian to reach the final 16 of the Irish Open. He certainly isn’t opposed to an upset and isn’t backing down from the challenge with his opening match being against the sixth qualifier.
Elsewhere in the draw Julien Carraggi sits as top seed from Belgium coming off his first Olympics Games this summer. He also recently took the his home country’s title at the Belgium International this year as well as winning the Austrian Open last year.
The second seed is Joakim Oldorff, the young Fin who claimed bronze at the European Championships earlier this year as well as gold at the Portugal and Estonian Internationals.
As always the mens singles qualification remains the most competitive of them all and for the Scottish it is no different with seven players competing for one of the coverted qualification spots. Joshua Apiliga, Shaun Ally Aamir, Angus Meldrum, Matthew Waring, James Robertson, Sen Thomas and Finlay Jack all face difficult draws.