Ever since their silver medal at the European Junior Championships in 2018, the Grimley brothers are on everyone’s radar as a new men’s doubles pair to keep an eye on. 

The Scottish pair have carried over their momentum into senior badminton, recording some great performances against top pairs and reached the semifinal at the Austrian Open earlier this year. Christopher Grimley, 20, speaks about whether he feels the pressure with so many eyes on them at the moment. 

- I wouldn’t say I feel much pressure, sometimes a little pressure is a good thing so we can give ourselves high expectations, but we just want to focus on improving and being better players.

Now 60 in the world, the brothers have grown up with each other and spent a lot of time training alongside the other. Asking whether they ever get tired of each other, Christopher responds. 

- To avoid getting sick and tired of each other, training with other partners/players helps. Competing against each other is good. Also, encouragement helps a lot with us as there are always things we need to work on as a pair even though we have played for years together. I know if we argue then we aren’t going to play well, so encouraging each other helps especially when competing.

Read: Ronan Labar: You have to stay open-minded

It helps us push more 

Being so young, the Grimley brothers are only just commencing their senior career. Looking towards the future, what are the major targets for them?

- The big goals for us in the long-term are to win Commonwealth Games and to get an Olympic medal.

In 2019, the brothers were at least in the final four in six tournaments, however, are yet to grab the title. Looking at their short-term targets, Christopher says. 

- We would like to win International and Challenge level competitions and to get into top-level events on the BWF World Tour. 

Scotland is in a strong position at the moment, with such a young team performing well on the circuit. Also, in men’s doubles are 38 in the world, Alex Dunn and Adam Hall. Discussing whether this is a good thing to have this competition within their country, Christopher states. 

- Both Dunn and Hall doing well is good for us even though it’s a tough challenge. It helps us push more to try and compete on their level.