Team Scotland dominated the semi-finals at 2013 Czech International as all three girls came through in three different semi-finals to supply a very tartan feel to Sunday’s final.

The Brno courts have proven a happy hunting ground for Kirsty Gilmour and once again she proved the cream of the crop in coming through her women’s doubles semi-final alongside Jillie Cooper in three tough games.

The Scots lost the opening game to English duo Brown and Lim but displayed real grit and determination to claw back the deficit and come through with a 21-19 win in the deciding set.

“That was a tough start to the day but we were glad to come through it in the end get to the final here for the second year running” commented Gilmour.

Gilmour had little time to recover after that exhausting women’s doubles semi-final as waiting for her on the TV court was Ukrainian Marija Ulitina in the first of the day’s women’s singles semi-finals. Gilmour got off to the best possible start winning 21-8 but took the foot off the mental gas in the second game to let Ulitina level it up and one game each.

“This has always been a weak part of my game, the closing out matches’ part that is. I struggled in that second game and made so many mistakes and found it hard to keep the tempo up in the game I like to play”

Gilmour traded blows with Ulitina early in the deciding set but a run of 4 points in a row saw the Scot take an 11-7 lead which appeared to take the wind from the sails of the Ukrainian ship. Gilmour continued to drive home her advantage and Ulitina wilted under the pressure allowing The Scot to take the last 10 points in a row to advance to the final.

“It was a strange match that I found hard to maintain my rhythm. I sensed after the interval in the third game that her (Ulitina) tank had run dry so I pushed hard to take the match. It is nice to be back in the final and for two consecutive years I am in both women’s doubles and singles final” said a content Gilmour after her semi-final victory.

Imogen Bankier (pictured alongside Petya Nedelcheva) made it a 100% semi-final record for Scotland as she strolled into Sunday’s final with a victory over young French Duo Tran & Batomene. As a result the women’s doubles final will have a very Scottish feel to it with three from four players representing the Celtic nation.

“It ended up an easy win for us against the French today and to be on the opposite side of the net to my best friends will be a little bit strange. In Belgium Petya had the same with the Stoeva sisters on the other side of the net and that proved to be an epic battle. I think tomorrow could be the same” said Bankier to badminton Europe.

Czech mixed doubles delight the large home support

Alzbeta Basova and partner Jakub Bitman proved to be the unlikely heroes of the day coming through two rounds against Chinese Taipei opposition to take their spot in the final of their home international. After a lacklustre display last week the Poland the Czech duo turned their fortunes around to the delight of the home supporters.

Elsewhere Italian based Indonesian Indra Bagus Ade Chandra made it to his first final since the Swedish International in 2010 and struggled to hold back his obvious emotions after the victory. “This is a great feeling to be in a final after such a long time. I feel my game is in a good place and if I can keep my mental side correct tomorrow I might have a chance to win”

Polish duo Cwalina & Wacha made up for the disappointment of their home international last week by dominating their semi-final against Labar and Careme of France. However the Poles will have to find yet another gear in tomorrow’s final as they face off against Chinese Taipei opposition that they struggled against at the Polish International just 7 days ago.

For all results from Brno click HERE

Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Brno)