Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ben Ramage

Impressive Renfrew badminton ace Iona Muir seals A-Grade and Spanish Open titles

Renfrew badminton ace Iona Muir continued her fine form on the court with two impressive title wins.

Muir recently bagged her first Senior A-grade title after winning the women’s doubles with Lindsey Ireland at the Dunfermline Badminton Championships.

The pair toppled top seeds Jodie Harris and Brooke Stalker after edging a closely-fought two sets.

Muir then followed that up impressively with the singles title at the Under-17 Spanish Open in Benalmadena, in which she was the only Scot competing at the tournament.

Muir, who has only just turned 15, revealed to Express Sport she faced a hostile atmosphere from the home crowd in Spain.

But she learned how to cope with it during the doubles before making that experience count in the singles event.

Muir said: “It feels amazing to have my picked up my first Under-17 international title.

“I now have three international titles and seven national titles under my belt.

“I’m really keen to go abroad more, but I know it is costly for my parents.

“However, that motivates me more when I’m out there.

“The experience and matches are like gold dust.

“I messed up in the doubles quarter finals, losing 23-21 in the third end to a Spanish pair, because I didn’t deal well with the noise from the home crowd.

“They were applauding our mistakes, screaming and battering drums.

“When I had to play in the final of the singles, I was better prepared and mentally focused.

“I had my own mini-support group from the Newport Badminton Academy in Wales, and that was enough for me.”

Muir’s route to the final in Spain saw her face tough competition from Germany, Ireland, Spain, Norway and Russia.

She then faced off against the fifth seed, Mariela Vasquez from Spain, in front of a partisan home crowd.

A tense first set went in favour of Muir 21-19, who then built a big lead in the second set only to let it slip before losing 20-22.

The final set was a much more comfortable affair which saw Muir race to an 11-3 lead at the interval before holding out to emphatically win the final set 21-11.

Muir now appears to have well and truly put her injury troubles behind her after fracturing her foot last year.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.