It has been an up and down season for English duo Peter Mills and Andy Ellis (pictured). The highlight so far was their win at the Finnish Open back in May and since then the English world number 35 pair have only had a pair of semi-final appearances in Bulgaria and the Dutch Open as performances that they themselves would be satisfied with. 

Early exits in the World Champions and Belgian International were not a part of the plan for Ellis and Mills and on both those occasions it was Polish pair Cwalina & Wacha who put them to the sword. Today the English pair managed to get than monkey off their back as the battled their way through three games against the number 3 seeds to book their place in their first Grand Prix final together as a pair. 

It was certainly an up and down match if the score is anything to go by as the English took the opening game 21-19 before going down 21-12 in the second. Ellis & Mills regrouped to advance to the final with a 21—15 win in the deciding set. 

The English will now face number 4 seeds Fuchs & Schoettler in tomorrow’s final after the Germans ended the tournament of Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis in the very first match on semi-finals day. 

Gilmour pushed hard as Kjaersfeldt cruises to the final.

The darling of Scottish Badminton Kirsty Gilmour was forced to come from behind against European silver medallist Anna Thea Madsen after losing the opening game to the energetic Dane. Gilmour had the Scottish fans gasping after going down 21-17 in the opening game but the momentum gained after winning the second 21-11 saw the world number 20 coast over the finish line to book her final berth in her home event. 

"Anna Thea has been on form this week and today she had her running shoes on and today she made it very difficult for me. It was an edgy tense match and in the end it was a battle of wills and who could play the percentages” said Gilmour after the match.

Gilmour’s opponent in tomorrow’s final will be Danish number 1 Line Kjaersfeldt after the Dane brushed aside the challenge of Beatriz Corrales of Spain. Kjaersfeldt, looking as strong as she has ever done, completely out powered her opponent which was no mean feat in itself in such a big slow hall. 

In the men’s singles top seeds Hans Kristian Vittinghus and Rajiv Ouseph came through their respective semi-finals unscathed in two games as both look to be getting better with each passing round. 

“I felt I got a very good start today against Raul Must and my defence was strong” said Vittinghus after his match. “I think that frustrated him a bit and he got a bit insecure after that start and started to commit a few easy mistakes. 

Dominant Dutch end English girls dream.

Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling ended the fairy-tale for Chloe Birch and Jenny Wallwork in today’s semi-finals after the English pairs journey through qualification came to an abrupt end in front of the TV cameras. 

The Dutch, who have enjoyed a resurgence in form, looked dominant making the final in just 30 mins play 21-15 21-15. 

“We had a very hard draw this week so it was always going to be tough for us and we didn’t really expect to me in the final” commented Samantha Barning after their win. “It will be a tough match in the final against the Japanese as they like to play long rallies so we will be prepared to be on court for more than 1 hour and patience will be the key” 

Elsewhere Ronan Labar and Emilie Lefel of France reached yet another Grand prix final after winning the Dutch Open back in October. Their final opponents will be Durkin & Vislova, one of the form couples these past weeks after the Russians beat Mittelheisser and Fontaine in three games. 

All the action will once again be Live on BEtv tomorrow from 11am and can be watched for free HERE

For a full photo gallery from today’s semi-finals click HERE

For all the results from the semi-finals of the 2015 Scottish Open click HERE