Badminton star Kirsty Gilmour feels that she’s banging on the door of a major championship win, as she heads to the World Championships in Japan.
Gilmour, 28, from Bothwell, is in Tokyo just over a week after missing out on the bronze medal match at the Commonwealth Games, but takes plenty of positives from Birmingham 2022.
Kirsty narrowly missed out on a place in the women’s singles final as she lost 23-21 21-23 18-21 to Canada’s Michelle Li, then crashed 14-21 20-22 to Singapore’s Jia Min Yeo in the bronze medal match.
While Gilmour says she did well, the World Championships gives her a chance to get back on track.
“I was one point away from being in the final, so I’ve got to do that athlete thing, where I only look on that as a positive,” said Gilmour.
“If I ruminated on that and kept that in my head I would find it really hard to go on, but it’s the world of sport, isn’t it?
“It’s inches that can make or break that, and I was so close.
“I had a really difficult build-up to the Games, with Covid and a few injuries and stuff.
“But hey, if somebody had offered me fourth out of the medal contenders, and under those conditions, how tight it would be, I’d probably have taken that.
“I threw everything at it – it’s not like I went and under-performed or that kind of thing, so it is what it is.”
Gilmour is in Japan for two-and-a-half weeks, with the World Championships in Tokyo from August 21-28 and the Japan Open in Osaka from August 30 to September 4.
She said: “The World Championships is another chance. I feel like I’m knocking on the door of taking these big wins, and really climbing up the rankings.
“I’m at the World Championships for a reason. It’s not going to be easy, and I do have a relatively tough draw, but if you want medals you’re going to have to beat people.
“I was disappointed to miss out on a seeded spot by one world ranking place, but all these things that have been going against me recently... I’m hoping will come full circle and pay off for me at some point!
“It will be nice to do the Japan Open straight afterwards, it gives you a nice little focus to the trip, and a couple of little bites of the apple as well.”
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