Kirsty Gilmour may be the lone Scot in the team but she is the highest seeded of the British badminton players heading for the Olympics in Rio.

The 22-year-old who originally hails from Bothwell but is now based in Glasgow, is seeded 11th among the 13 seeds in the women’s singles, reflecting an excellent end to her competitive season which took her to a new high in the world rankings of 16th.

She is one of only two Europeans, along with Spain’s World and European champion Carolina Marin, to gain seeded places in the 40-strong field which will be split into 13 groups with a seed in each.

“It was a very nice surprise,” said Gilmour, who had been hoping she had done just enough to get the last of the seeded places.

While a higher seeding could be additionally advantageous, however, she noted the important thing was to avoid the highest ranked players in the opening round, adding: “It means I stay away from the other names on that list for at least a little while.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the groups pan out.”

The only other member of the British team to be seeded is Raj Ouseph who is listed at 13 in the 41-strong men’s singles line-up.

Continued Asian domination of the sport is reflected in the fact that Denmark’s Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen, fourth seeds in the mixed doubles, are the only seeded Europeans in any of the three doubles events.