Gilmour prepares for the impossible with An Se Young test at YONEX All England Open

By Milly McEvoy in Birmingham

Kirsty Gilmour is preparing to do the almost impossible in the second round of the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2025.

The Scottish shuttler has to try to beat world No.1 An Se Young in the women’s singles on Day 3.

Korea’s Olympic gold medallist and former All England champion is yet to lose in 2025, with three tournament victories.

Gilmour has had near-contrasting fortunes with injury niggles seeing her fail to win a first-round match in 2025 prior to arriving in Birmingham.

However, up against Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei, a player ranked 14 places above Gilmour in the world, the Bellshill native shone.

A lightning-fast start in the first game gave her a platform to push on and she closed out the win with passion to triumph 21-18 21-16 at the Utilita Arena.

“I’m going to throw everything I’ve got at her,” Gilmour said. “She’s by far and away world number one right now – almost untouchable.

“I’m going to give her everything that I’ve got and just throw everything at her – nothing to lose – even though she’s about 10 years younger than me!

“I’ve learned a lot from her already, stealing some technique things. We’ll see what happens on Thursday.

“I think she brings something really new and fresh to badminton, it’s something we’ve never seen before.

“No one moves like her, I don’t want to blow her up too much because I still have every confidence to play against her, but she is truly world class. I am going to rest and cultivate a gameplan that might do the job but it is a hard task.

An opened her quest for a second YONEX All England title with an assured 21-16 21-14 triumph over Gao Fang Jie of China.

The top seed was named Players’ Player of the Year for 2024 to show the regard she is held in by her peers.

It also reflected the stellar season she had as she claimed a maiden Olympic medal, with singles gold at Paris 2024.

She topped the BWF World Tour podium four times across the 2024 season and is well on her way to beating that feat in 2025.

While An is setting the standard, Gilmour believes it is all about her when the two face on Thursday.

She added: “So much of it is to do with me. You know what you’re going to get with An Se Young – pure consistency, absolute skill.

“It’ll really be a real mental challenge for me to stick to my plan, not look for those cheap and risky points.

“I just want to really run with her – there’s not really a quick way to score a point with her.

“It’s going to have to be very slim margins that I’m going to have to find to try and get her off balance in some way, if that’s even possible. But let’s see!”

While Gilmour has been plotting away to upset An, the Korean was giving very little away on what has led her to become nearly unbeatable.

She said: “I just trust myself.”

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