Scotland badminton ace Kirsty Gilmour was always up against it taking on a former world No.1 at the YONEX All England Open – she could’ve done without the added food poisoning.

The 25-year-old Bellshill-born shuttler has been in good form of late to make the main draw at one of the world’s most competitive badminton tournaments but lost out in round one to India’s Saina Nehwal.

The Indian superstar is seeded eighth in Birmingham and lived up to her billing as she prevailed 21-17 21-18, with the Scottish Olympian unable to match her opponent, albeit whilst hindered.

Gilmour commented: “It always a tough one against Saina, we’ve had some good battles but I knew today was going to be harder because I’ve been struggling with food poisoning for the last 36 hours.

“I was just going on court and putting on as good a show as I could for as long as I could to be honest.

“Given the circumstances I actually think I played OK. The train journey down here was not fun, there was a jump up from my seat every couple of hours but I’ve felt better in the last 12 hours so I just decided to push on and I really wanted to play Saina as hard as I could.

“The game plan that I’d set out I was actually executing quite well it’s just a shame I couldn’t hang on to grab a few extra points.”

Despite her ailment Gilmour put on a good show in front of a home British crowd, staying in touch throughout the 35-minute encounter.

The Scot is currently ranked 29th in the world, 22 places lower than an opponent she’s struggled to beat in the past.

She added: “I put everything I had into it this one but Saina’s not been world No.1 for no reason.

“It’s always fun coming down to All England though. I can’t say I’ve won many matches here but hopefully I’ll maybe not get a former world No.1 in the first round one year!

“I’ll get back into training now and then next up for me is Orleans in France in a couple of weeks, hopefully I’ll be fit and healthy for that.”

The 2019 YONEX All England – Badminton’s Greatest Show on the sport’s world tour – will wow fans at Arena Birmingham, 6-10 March. For tickets and information: www.allenglandbadminton.com or search All England tickets.