Kirsty Gilmour is just one win away from claiming her second title in a week after the Brit stormed into the women’s singles final at the London Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old successfully defended her Czech International title last week, beating Taiwan’s Chi Ya Cheng in the showpiece to do so.
And the Scot could now wrap up a second title after getting the better of Czech Republic’s Kristina Gavnholt in her semi-final in the Copper Box Arena.
Gilmour won her match 21-13, 20-22, 21-16, despite wasting two match points at 20-18 in the second game, and now faces 20-year-old Carolina Marin from Spain in the final.
“The semi-final was a little bit more edgy than how I’ve played previously,” she said. “I knew I had beaten her in the past.
“Kristina is a good player so I am just really happy to get through that one. The shots managed to come when I really needed them.
“I wouldn’t say it was my best performance but it was enough to get me through that one.
“Me and Carolina played all through the junior ranks together but never managed to step on court together so that will be a first and I am really looking forward to it.”
But while Gilmour was celebrating safe passage to the final, there was disappointment for England’s Rajiv Ouseph after he lost a close semi-final with China’s Tian Houwei.
Ouseph, the six-time English National champion and fourth seed, lost 21-18, 21-14 after starting the first game strongly to lead 10-7 before his opponent turned the tables.
Ouseph said: “I was a bit disappointed. I started quite well in the first game, I just wasn’t able to sustain it for as long as he could. I just made a few more errors in the middle of both games, so it’s a little bit disappointing.”
“Next week, we’ve got training, then we’ve got quite a few tournaments in a row.
“We’ve got Denmark, France and then one in Germany, so we’re very busy for the next few weeks. It’s good that I won a few matches here so I can take those performances into the next tournament.”
© Sportsbeat 2013