Saarland: Scotland’s No. 3 seed, Kirsty Gilmour defeated Carolina Marin, the top seed from Spain, in straight sets in the semi-final of SaarLorLux Open to deliver the biggest surprise so far in the women’s draw.
Although Gilmour was leading at 17-13, 19-16 in the first set, Marin put on a spirited fight to reach game point at 20-19 in the first set. However, Gilmour managed to held her nerves to reel off 3 consecutive points to clinch the first game 22-20.
Gilmour got off to a slow start in the second set, falling behind by 4-7, but she showed she was the dominant force in the match, dictating the rhythm to score 5 consecutive points to lead at 9-7 and never look back to win the second set 21-14.
This was Gilmour’s second victory against Marin in their 9th career head to head meeting.
The 27-year-old Gilmour will face No. 6 seed Yvonne Li of Germany in the final.
In the men’s singles action, No. 3 seed Mark Caljouw of Netherlands knocked out unseeded Brian Yang of Canada 21-18, 21-17 in the semi-final.
Caljouw is set to take on Toma Junior Popov of France in the final. Popov, on the other hand, outlasted Ditlev Jaeger Holm of Denmark 21-17, 21-15 to reach the final.
No. 1 seeds Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva of Bulgaria eliminated Debora Jille/Cheryl Seinen of Netherlands 21-8, 21-17 in 33 minutes to set up a women’s doubles final against No. 6 seeds Amalie Magelund/Freja Ravn of Denmark.
