Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour maintained her flying start to the season when she claimed her third titles by winning the singles at the Swiss International in Yverdon-les-Bains, writes Kathy May. The 19-year-old from Bothwell is at a career-high No.64 in the world rankings and her latest triumph should take her close to breaking the top 50 barrier.
Winner of the singles titles at the Belgian and Czech events on the Badminton Europe circuit in the last two months, she defeated Indonesia's Milicent Wiranto 24-22, 21-17 in the final. She led 19-16 in the first set but was caught at 19-19 before taking it on her fourth game point. From 9-9 in the second game, the fifth seed took control to clinch victory.
She received a walkover from France's Delphine Lansac in the semi-finals, having earlier seen off Austria's Nathalie Ziesig 21-13, 21-12, the French qualifier Marie Batomene 21-9, 21-13, and the Swiss qualifier Simone von Rotz 21-14, 21-10.
In the men's singles, Glasgow's Kieran Merrilees was a 21-13, 17-21, 21-16 win over Wisnu Haryo Putro, the No.8 seed from Italy, but was beaten 21-14, 21-19 in the last 16 by England's Toby Penty, who went on to reach the final.
hockey
Scotland striker Nikki Kidd celebrated her debut for Edinburgh University with a hat-trick in the 6-0 thrashing of Glynhill Kelburne on the opening weekend of the Aberdeen Asset Management women's national league, writes Craig Madden. Player/coach Sam Judge, who hopes to lead the students to the top end of the league, scored a double and the remaining goal came from Sarah Robertson.
Other matches were also high-scoring affairs as the favourites made a convincing start to their campaigns. None more so than champions Grove Menzieshill who trounced Inverleith 9-0 on Tayside, Sarah Jamieson's hat-trick and two by Scotland captain Linda Clement were the main contributions. Milne Craig Western gave Wildcats a seven-goal mauling, internationalist Holly Cram scoring three, defender Catriona Ralph two from penalty corners, and Anna-Mae Morton and Nicola Pitticas also on target.
Giffnock, third last season, seem to have overcome the loss of several players after a comfortable 4-0 win over Grange, with Elaine Brierley, Kareena Marshall, Susie Blake and Cath Stirling on target. Dundee Wanderers completed a day of routs with a 5-1 defeat of CALA Edinburgh through goals from the Bunce sisters Ashley and Vikki, Amanda Maxwell, Jude McMullen and Amy Rowan.
n Gareth Hall, the Scotland midfielder, is the only doubt in the Glynhill Kelburne squad for the EuroLeague at East Grinstead. Hall suffered an injury playing for Scotland in the first round of the World League in Portugal last month, and will face a late fitness before making the trip south.
n Scotland continue to punch above their weight in terms of international officials, as Iain McKay, Barbara Morgan and Anne Wotherspoon were among the 14 European tournament directors who attended a seminar in Brussels for a refresher course staged by the European Hockey Federation education committee.
ICE HOCKEY
Dundee CCS Stars hope to have a new player in place by the time they take on Cardiff Devils on Thursday, writes Nigel Duncan. Jeff Hutchins, their player/coach, declined to name the newcomer but indicated that he will be a significant addition to a squad in seventh place in the Elite League with nine points from nine games.
SNOOKER
Scotland has three players in the world's top 11 after John Higgins, Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott all retained their places in yesterday's rankings, writes Lorin McDougall. Former world champions Higgins and Dott are third and 11th after losing in the last 16 at the Antwerp Open, while Maguire stays sixth despite having decided against playing in Belgium.
SPEEDWAY
Berwick Bandits aim to win a second piece of silverware when they take on Rye House Rockets in the Premier Challenge Trophy Final this weekend, writes Nigel Duncan. They play host to Rockets on Saturday with the return on Sunday. Ian Rae, Bandits' manager, said: "After an appalling season in terms of the huge number of injuries we've suffered, we finally showed our true potential by going to Glasgow and winning on Sunday."
tennis
Linlithgow's Colin Fleming and his English partner Ross Hutchins, from Wimbledon, make a last-ditch attempt to qualify for next month's ATP Finals at the Valencia Open in Spain this week, writes Lorin McDougall. The British pair remained ninth in the latest world rankings, with only the top eight pairs making it to the end-of-season event in London. Fleming and Hutchins are No.4 seeds in Valencia and will open against Julian Knowle (Austria) and Filip Polasek (Slovakia), finalists in the Vienna Open last week. The pairs met in Kuala Lumpur last month when Fleming and Hutchins triumphed.
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