Surrey badminton sensation Toby Penty stormed into the semi-finals of the Scottish Open with two dominant performances on day three of the competition.
First up in the day Penty beat 17-year-old Irishman Nhat Nguyen 21-11 16-21 21-15 in round three of the men’s singles.
And later on in the quarter-finals, the 25-year-old left-hander comfortably beat Finland’s Henri Aarnio 21-12 21-13, leaving him feeling in confident mood for the rest of the tournament.
“I don’t think it was the best match really,” said Penty. “It was a little bit patchy but I was happy enough to win comfortably in relatively short time after a longer match this morning, I’m really happy with it.
“I’m feeling alright and I feel like I’m fighting hard that’s the main thing.
“I’m having a few blips in my matches but at the end of the day I’m coming out on top, so I’m having really good periods at the right times and reeling off four or five points at key moments.
“If I keep doing that then I give myself a chance of beating quite a few people so I’m happy with that.
Penty, ranked 67th in the world in men’s singles, is targeting the world’s top 50 this season and will face either second seed Ygor Coelho of Brazil or tenth seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
“I don’t mind who I get in the semi’s,” Penty added. “I’ve played both of them before so I don’t think in that sense it makes too much of a difference for me, I’m just going to keep concentrating on what I do.
“I’ve been trying to make a few changes to how I look into matches before I play them.
“I’ll just keep doing that and focusing on myself and may the best man win between those two, I look forward to playing them tomorrow.”
The Scottish Open Grand Prix is being hosted at the Emirates Arena by BADMINTONscotland with support from Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Council and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate. Tickets are on sale at www.badmintonscotland.org.uk or at the Emirates Arena box office.
