# Kirsty Gilmour

Kirsty Gilmour (born 21 September 1993) is a Scottish badminton player who has represented both Scotland and Great Britain.

## Career

Gilmour won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, losing out to Michelle Li of Canada in the final and becoming the first Scottish player to reach the women's singles finals at the Commonwealth Games. She jointly won Scottish Young Sports Personality of the Year 2012 with swimmer Craig Benson.
On 1 May 2016, Gilmour went down fighting to Carolina Marín, in the finals of the European Championship held in La Roche-sur-Yon, settling for the silver medal.
Making a second appearance at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gilmour, the eleventh seed, won her opening match against the unseeded Sabrina Jaquet in straight games. However, she lost her second match against the world No. 28 Linda Zetchiri 21–12, 17–21, 16–21, thereby making an exit at the group stage.
In 2017, she made it back into the final round of the European Championship in Kolding, Denmark but her pace was stopped by defending champion Carolina Marín with score 14–21, 12–21. Gilmour earned a silver medal.
Gilmour represented Great Britain at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, going out in the group stages after defeating Mahoor Shahzad of Azerbaijan but losing to Japanese fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, she again went out in the group stages after winning her opening match against Keisha Fatimah Az Zahra from Azerbaijan then losing to China's number six seed He Bingjiao.

## Achievements
### Commonwealth Games

Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2014 | Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | Michelle Li | 14–21, 7–21 | Silver |
| 2018 | Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre, Gold Coast, Australia | Michelle Li | 21–11, 21–16 | Bronze |

### European Games

Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2019 | Falcon Club, Minsk, Belarus | Mia Blichfeldt | 16–21, 17–21 | Silver |
| 2023 | Arena Jaskółka, Tarnów, Poland | Carolina Marín | 13–21, 11–21 | Bronze |

### European Championships

Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2016 | Vendéspace, La Roche-sur-Yon, France | Carolina Marín | 12–21, 18–21 | Silver |
| 2017 | Sydbank Arena, Kolding, Denmark | Carolina Marín | 14–21, 12–21 | Silver |
| 2021 | Palace of Sports, Kyiv, Ukraine | Line Christophersen | 13–21, 21–7, 10–21 | Bronze |
| 2022 | Polideportivo Municipal Gallur, Madrid, Spain | Carolina Marín | 10–21, 12–21 | Silver |
| 2024 | Saarlandhalle, Saarbrücken, Germany | Carolina Marín | 11–21, 18–21 | Silver |

### Commonwealth Youth Games

Girls' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
| 2011 | National Sports Centre, Douglas, Isle of Man | Yang Li Lian | 21–16, 22–20 | Bronze | |

### BWF World Tour (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2018 | Scottish Open | Super 100 | Line Kjærsfeldt | 21–16, 18–21, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2019 | Orléans Masters | Super 100 | Saena Kawakami | 8–21, 21–18, 16–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Russian Open | Super 100 | Pai Yu-po | 21–9, 19–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2020 | SaarLorLux Open | Super 100 | Yvonne Li | 21–10, 21–17 | Winner |

### BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 6 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2013 | London Open | Carolina Marín | 19–21, 9–21 | Runner-up |
| 2013 | Scottish Open | Carolina Marín | 14–21, 21–11, 13–21 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | Dutch Open | Karin Schnaase | 21–16, 21–13 | Winner |
| 2015 | Scottish Open | Line Kjærsfeldt | 21–16, 16–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | U.S. Grand Prix | Pai Yu-po | 21–18, 15–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2016 | Malaysia Masters | P. V. Sindhu | 15–21, 9–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Canada Open | Saena Kawakami | 21–19, 19–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Scottish Open | Mia Blichfeldt | 23–21, 21–12 | Winner |
    BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
    BWF Grand Prix tournament

### BWF International Challenge/Series (10 titles, 6 runners-up)

Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2012 | Polish International | Panuga Riou | 21–12, 21–12 | Winner |
| 2012 | Czech International | Sashina Vignes Waran | 21–18, 10–21, 21–13 | Winner |
| 2012 | Swiss International | Millicent Wiranto | 24–22, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2013 | Czech International | Cheng Chi-ya | 21–18, 21–10 | Winner |
| 2014 | Swedish Masters | Line Kjærsfeldt | 24–22, 12–21, 21–10 | Winner |
| 2014 | Spanish Open | Carolina Marín | 21–19, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2015 | Swedish Masters | Beatriz Corrales | 21–18, 21–19 | Winner |
| 2015 | Belgian International | Goh Jin Wei | 15–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | Prague Open | Linda Zechiri | 21–16, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2017 | Austrian Open | Fabienne Deprez | 21–17, 21–9 | Winner |
| 2017 | Orleans International | Lee Ying Ying | 22–20, 21–11 | Winner |
| 2019 | Spanish International | Phittayaporn Chaiwan | 12–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
Women's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2012 | Czech International | Jillie Cooper | Heather Olver Kate Robertshaw | 16–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2012 | Welsh International | Jillie Cooper | Lauren Smith Gabrielle White | 7–21, 14–21 | Runner-up |
| 2013 | Czech International | Jillie Cooper | Imogen Bankier Petya Nedelcheva | 6–21, 14–21 | Runner-up |
| 2014 | Spanish Open | Imogen Bankier | Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva | 14–21, 9–21 | Runner-up |
    BWF International Challenge tournament
    BWF International Series tournament
    BWF Future Series tournament

## Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists. Accurate as of 28 November 2022.
| Players | Matches | Results | Results | Difference |
| Players | Matches | Won | Lost | Difference |
| Petya Nedelcheva | 7 | 4 | 3 | +1 |
| Chen Yufei | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| He Bingjiao | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Li Xuerui | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Wang Shixian | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| Wang Yihan | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Zhang Yiman | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Tai Tzu-ying | 5 | 0 | 5 | –5 |
| Saina Nehwal | 7 | 0 | 7 | –7 |
| P. V. Sindhu | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Players | Matches | Results | Results | Difference |
| Players | Matches | Won | Lost | Difference |
| Lindaweni Fanetri | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Minatsu Mitani | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| Nozomi Okuhara | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| Akane Yamaguchi | 4 | 0 | 4 | –4 |
| An Se-young | 5 | 0 | 5 | –5 |
| Bae Yeon-ju | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| Sung Ji-hyun | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| Carolina Marín | 10 | 2 | 8 | –6 |
| Porntip Buranaprasertsuk | 3 | 0 | 3 | –3 |
| Ratchanok Intanon | 9 | 1 | 8 | –7 |

## Personal life

Gilmour is currently based in Glasgow. Kirsty Gilmour studied at University of the West of Scotland's Ayr Campus graduating with a BA in Creative Industries Practice in 2015.
Gilmour is openly lesbian and uses she/her and they/them pronouns. She is currently the only openly LGBT badminton player to be ranked in the top 100 of any event and is one of very few openly LGBT professional badminton players.