Kirsty Gilmour's bid to qualify for next year's Olympic Games could be set to receive a huge boost with the involvement of former world number one Tine Baun in her coaching programme.
HeraldSport understands that negotiations are underway between Badminton Scotland, the governing body of the domestic game and the Dane who was the finest European player of her generation, regarding working with the 21-year-old from Bothwell, who established herself as Scotland's greatest ever singles player when she claimed a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last summer.
Gilmour demonstrated her strength of character when, with the GB coaching team failing to place sufficient importance on the Commonwealth Games which she had correctly identified as a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform in such a major event in front of a global audience, she opted out of the official programme to work within the Scottish set-up in Glasgow.
Her decision was vindicated not only becoming the first Scot to reach a singles final at the Games but by setting new standards in climbing to No.16 in the world rankings ahead of her heroics in Glasgow which saw her claim the last of Scotland's medals.
During that rise Gilmour offered the clearest indication of her class this time last year when she won the Spanish Open, beating the home nation's top player Carolina Marin in the final. In what is an Asian-dominated sport Marin was to go on to claim a shock victory at last year's World Championships.
Gilmour's world ranking has fallen to 30th since the Games, but she is still far and away the leading British player and has consequently been invited to return to the official set-up which she is doing on her terms, basing herself in Glasgow rather than at their headquarters in Milton Keynes.
As a year of Olympic qualifying gets underway that has resulted in her having to turn down the chance to defend her Spanish title in favour of attending a GB training camp in Singapore ahead of taking part in a strong of Super Series events in the Southern Hemisphere and she is currently working with Chris Bruil, the Dutchman who was recruited by Badminton Scotland essentially as a doubles specialist ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
He struck up an excellent working relationship with Gilmour at that time and his availability has become all the more important following the recent announcement that Yvette Yun Luo, the Chinese coach who quickly identified the outstanding singles talent at her disposal soon after arriving in Glasgow six years ago and has consequently nurtured Gilmour's development to this point, has resigned from her role as Badminton Scotland's head coach.
Her decision gave the Scottish governing body a major issue to resolve since the leeway offered by GB administrators in providing funding while allowing Gilmour to remain in Glasgow is understandably dependent on the right quality of support being in place.
The approach to Baun, a two-time European champion and three time winner of the women's singles at the prestigious All England Championship, consequently reflects that.
"It is vital that Kirsty is given the best possible chance not only to qualify for Rio but to perform well there and Tine Baun has the expertise to ensure that happens," said a Badminton Scotland source.
"Kirsty has established herself as one of the leading players in Europe but to move to the next level in global events she has to be able to find ways of consistently competing with the leading Asian players.
"Tine's track record shows that she knows how to do that since, in the course of her career, she won the Korean, Malyasian, Singapore and Japan Open titles as well as those European and All England successes."
Personal commitments Baun, who retired from playing in 2013 after winning the third of her All England titles, is not likely to be a contender for the role of Badminton Scotland head coach, however.
That role looks likely to be a stimulating but challenging one with some exciting young prospects, most notably the 15-year-old Grimley twins, Christopher and Matthew, in the pipeline but major issues to be addressed among the current top players.
Ensuring that Gilmour gets the necessary support will be a major part of that, while there is also the question of whether she might re-commence her doubles partnership with Imogen Bankier which could, potentially, represent Scotland's best chance of winning a gold medal at the next Commonwealth Games, as well as future Olympic involvement.
Bankier, a doubles specialist who has won world championship silver and Commonwealth bronze, is playing in the Spanish Open with Robert Mateusziak, the Pole who is her regular partner at club level in France, but is currently undertaking something of a sabbatical from full-time badminton as she gains some business experience.
Still only 27, she is weighing up her options with a view to a return to regular top flight competition if she can find the right partner in mixed and/or women's doubles.
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