Badminton ace Kirsty Gilmour wins in France

Kirsty Gilmour has just added another title to her impressive badminton CV

Last year’s European silver medallist gave herself a big boost before this year’s championships in Kolding later this month by winning the women’s singles title at the Orleans International on Sunday.

A delighted Kirsty took to social media to outline her joy after the memorable victory.

She tweeted: “Boom. Another title in the bag.

“It’s been tough but I always love playing in France!

“Thank you for the support!”

The success in Orleans saw Gilmour follow up her Austrian Open triumph last month by beating Malaysian Ying Ying Lee 22-20 21-11 in the final after saving a game point at 20-19 down in the opener before taking control of the contest.

The tournament victory was a hard fought one for Kirsty, also illustrated by her results in earlier rounds.

In Saturday’s quarter-finals, the Bothwell star came back from a game behind to wear down Delphine Lansac 24-26 21-13 13-7, at which point her French rival retired from their 63-minute battle.

And the semi-final saw sixth seed Kirsty – fighting her way back up the rankings to No, 45 following her long injury lay-off – dispose of Denmark’s Sofie Dahl, again coming from behind to win 13-21 21-16 21-11.

This will give Gilmour a real lift before the Euros, which is her next tournament.

Last year’s Euros saw Kirsty enjoy a memorable run all the way through to the final where she eventually succumbed to Carolina Marin in La Roche-sur-Yon.

Another career highlight for the 23-year-old Bothwell star came when she landed a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, only missing out on a gold after a final loss to Michelle Li of Canada.

More victories surely beckon for Kirsty now that she is back in good health and firing on all cylinders after her injury layoff.