Kirsty Gilmour hit form at the Yonex US Open last night when she toppled No.8 seed Pai Yu Po 21-11 17-21 21-14 in the second round of the women's singles in New York.

The win over the world No. 20 was a welcome boost after a tough time on the World Super Series circuit in Australia and Indonesia in recent weeks.

This was their third meeting with one win apiece in contents which also went to three games.

In this second-round clash Gilmour was never behind in the first game after the opening point and took the opener comfortably. But Pai turned the tables in the second game and pulled away from 4-4.

But in the decider the 21-year-old Commonwealth silver medallist took command and was always ahead as she took the contest on her third match point after 57 minutes.

She said: "Today was a good day for me. I went in knowing that if I played relatively well that I could win: anything less than that and I was in trouble.

"But I managed to implement my tactics well and adapt to the drift in on one of the sides. So all in all I'm quite happy with my performance and I'm getting ready for the next test."

In the quarter-finals tonight Gilmour, the only Europeans left in the women's singles, will face Japanese second seed Akane Yamaguchi.

Paul Van Rietvelde and England's Chris Coles were also bidding for a place in the quarter-finals in the men's doubles when they faced Japan's Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.

The Anglo-Scottish pair took the first game 21-18 but the Japanese duo levelled the match 21-19 and went on to take the decider 21-17, leading all the way after the opening two points.