Badminton: Lanarkshire players hope for success at Championships

Feb 4 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

SIX county players will hope to triumph at this weekend’s Yonex Scottish National Championships at the Bell’s Sports Centre in Perth.

The event, which runs from Friday to Sunday, sees county starlets involved in various events.

Bothwell’s Kyle Longmuir is first up in the men’s singles but faces a tough test against second seed Calum Menzies from Falkirk.

In the women’s singles Uddingston’s Fiona Bain faces a tough opening round against two-time Scotland Under-23 champion Alison Marr from Kilmacolm, with the winner progressing to a second round clash against Glasgow’s Linda Sloan.

In the men’s doubles Watson Briggs and Paul Van Rietvelde are top seeds but will be wary of a final against second seeds Jamie Neill from Hamilton and Larkhall’s Keith Turnbull – although they will have to get past Bellshill’s Andrew Bowman and East Kilbride’s Craig Goddard to reach the last stage.

In the women’s doubles Imogen Bankier and Jillie Cooper are expected to contest the final against Sloan and Susan Egelstaff, but it’s expected that the latter two will have to defeat Bank of Scotland Under-19 champions Kirsty Gilmour from Bothwell and Kirsten Geals from Mauchline in the semi-finals.

A total of 97 players from across Scotland have entered this year’s championships.

Play begins on Friday night with the mixed doubles played up to and including the semi-finals.

All other events will be played up to and including the quarter-final on Saturday.

Sunday’s semi-finals will start at 10.30am, with the finals from 1.30pm.

Tickets are available on the door.