| Bankier bids for sixth National title in a row |
|
And world silver medallist Imogen Bankier will be bidding for a sixth successive mixed doubles title. A total of 51 men and 24 women players have entered the Championships with former singles and doubles champion Rita Yuan Gao, who now coaches in Switzerland, in the line-up. Merrilees will be up against former champion Calum Menzies (Falkirk), who won this month's Yonex Dunfermline Open, and Dunfermline runner-up Gordon Hoggan as he chases his second singles title. Teenager Kirsty Gilmour (Bothwell) and four-times champion Yuan Gao will be among the leading contenders in the women's singles but Glasgow's five-times champion Susan Egelstaff will sit out the championships as she looks to make a full recovery from her recent knee problem before tackling the crucial final months of Olympic qualifying. Renfrew’s Watson Briggs, who returned from Canada to contest the Scottish International Championships in November, is back on the title trail. He will tackle the men's doubles with Longniddry’s Paul van Rietvelde while he and Bankier are bidding to recapture the mixed doubles title they have won four times between 2007 and 2010. Bankier won it last year with Van Rietvelde. In the men's doubles two-time champions Keith Turnbull (Larkhall) and Jamie Neill (Hamilton) will be the pair to beat while Troon’s Angus Gilmour will team up with Merrilees in the absence of his regular partner Michael Campbell, who is concentrating on his exams. In the mixed Briggs and Bankier will have to withstand the challenge from Van Rietvelde and Edinburgh’s Jillie Cooper. Bankier will be aiming for a title double as she and Cooper head the women's doubles line-up while Yuan Gao teams up with Glasgow player Linda Sloan, who retired from international badminton in November. The seedings will be announced next week while the draw will be available on BADMINTONscotland’s website on Wednesday 1 February. Tickets are now on sale for the Championships and are available from the Bell's Sport Centre or from BADMINTONscotland at www.badmintonscotland.org.uk The Championships are again sponsored by Yonex UK and are staged in Perth courtesy of Perth and Kinross Council, Perth and Kinross Sports Council and Live Active Leisure. LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONS |
|
| Last Updated ( Friday, 24 February 2012 ) |
GLASGOW’S KIERAN MERRILEES will defend his men's singles title when the Yonex Scottish National Championships take place at the Bell's Sports Centre in Perth from February 3-5.