Bothwell badminton ace to try for Olympic Youth Games

Jan 21 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

RISING star Kirsty Gilmour has been given a shot at qualifying for the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this year – but must overcome two major hurdles.

The Bothwell badminton ace this weekend travels to take part in a GB qualification tournament at Milton Keynes, where she will face England’s Georgina Bland, Helena Lewczynska and Sarah Milne, alongside Wales’ Sarah Thomas.

The tournament will determine which GB boy and girl will move on to a European qualification event in Denmark in March, where they will face another tough obstacle.

Gilmour (16) will be looking to reproduce the form which swept her to the Langenfield International junior title, UK School Games gold and the Bank of Scotland National Junior Under-19 singles title at the start of the season.

She has competed in several senior events and dad Brian (48) now reckons she could use a confidence boost.

He said: “There are five girls competing at Milton Keynes for one place and they’re all under-18 while Kirsty is still under-17.

“The games will take place over Saturday and Sunday and will be hard-going, but realistically Kirsty has a chance of qualifying.

“This gets you into the British side at the Youth Olympics and then there’s a qualifying round in Denmark. It’s really strong competition.

“Kirsty has got to play well in every game she is in. This is real cut-throat stuff, and all of the players involved are at the top of their game.

“Kirsty has worked extremely hard. She hasn’t had a competition since the start of December, but she has worked very hard every day at the Scottish Institute of Sport and with my brother David (a Scottish champion may times over) and she is definitely progressing.

“But her confidence is a wee bit low after competing in three senior tournaments and not being the top dog, which Kirsty isn’t used to any more.”

Playing in the Youth Olympic Games, which takes place in Singapore from August 14-26 and will attract 3600 competitors aged 14-18 in 26 sports, would be massive for Kirsty but Brian insists there is no pressure on her.

He said: “It would be fantastic for Kirsty to qualify and it would mean the world to her. It’s also a great opportunity to play against some of the best young players in the world, who are pretty much born on a badminton court.

“It is a tremendous opportunity but Kirsty is only 16, so it’s not the be-all and end-all if she doesn’t qualify. She’s already a good senior player, there is no pressure on her to be a brilliant junior.

“Kirsty knows that and we feel that she performs better in that environment, when there isn’t so much pressure on her.”