Former Scottish Open champion Toby Penty was delighted to get through the first round in Glasgow at a tournament he sees like his home.

Penty made the perfect start in his quest to regain the title he won four years ago with a hard fought 24-22, 21-17 win over Indian Kiran George.

The English third seed couldn’t hide his delight to be back north of the border, after the championships were cancelled due to the pandemic last year.

“I don’t get play in England much,” explained Penty.
“But honestly Glasgow feels like a home from home for me anyway. It’s just a great venue to play.

“I have played both the All England and the Olympics this year with no-one watching. So this was a brilliant experience to have some spectators in.

“Earlier this year I didn’t really notice it, because I was just in the zone, but in those big moments in the Olympics of course you miss having a crowd.

“Just walking up to the arena puts a little smile on my face, thinking about 2017 [when he lifted the title in Glasgow.”

Although Penty managed to safely navigate his opening match at the Emirates Arena, he was made to dig deep by George, particularly in the first game which went the distance.

He added: “I knew he would be a good opponent, a lot of the Indian guys are that are here. I haven’t played a lot of badminton recently so knew it was going to be tough either way.

“I am just happy I kept my composure in the big points at the end.

“You can take a big breath when you win a first set that close. To come on top in those moments are big.

“That probably was the most important point in the match.

“I had played Kiran (George) before. I played him three years ago in Belgium when he was a junior still coming up.

“I knew today would be a much different challenge, but I prepared and got one, but I am happy to come out on the winning side.”

The Walton badminton star is also a big Fulham supporter and acknowledged the only downside of another big run in Glasgow would be potentially missing the Cottagers’ Championship clash with Preston this weekend.

Penty added: “I might have to miss it [Fulham’s game on Saturday] unfortunately, if I do well!

“I was looking and saw they are away at Preston and it is on television, but I was thinking maybe I could nip down on there on the train.

“Either way I’ll hopefully get to watch them play. But I would love to try and have another deep run here and see how I can do.

“Hopefully I get the best of both worlds.”

The Scottish Open Badminton Championships is being staged at the Emirates Arena by Badminton Scotland with support from Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life, Event Scotland and Yonex. Full results are at www.tournamentsoftware.com, and tickets are on sale at https://www.badmintonscotland.org.uk/tickets/