Badminton: Cooper's doubles success but Campbell misses out

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 10:19

EDINBURGH'S Martin Campbell lost out to fellow Scot Kieran Merrilees as Susan Egelstaff was left to carry Scotland's hopes in the singles at the Bank of Scotland Scottish International badminton event at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.

In the women's doubles, the Capital's defending champion, Jillie Cooper, reached the quarter-finals with new English partner Samantha Ward. They beat England's Sarah Walker and Heather Oliver 21-12, 16-21, 21-12.

Cooper and England's Chris Langridge also made the last eight in the mixed doubles with a 21-9, 21-15 victory over Edinburgh's Emma Mason and Longniddry's Paul Van Ritvelde.

Campbell, 19, had never managed to defeat good pal Merrilees, and his record was maintained in an 11-21, 16-21 second round defeat to the No.9 seed.

It was a solid performance for Campbell in his first senior season and another sign that he is getting back to full fitness following a back injury in the summer. He said: "This was only my second tournament of the season but I feel I'm improving all the time.

"I've got the Welsh and Irish Opens before Christmas so this is the start of a nice run."

Glasgow 20-year-old Merrilees said: "The score looked pretty comfortable but Martin played well and hit some really nice shots."

Merrilees missed the chance to reach the last 16 when he failed to convert a match point in the second game and suffered a disappointing 21-17, 20-22, 18-21 to India's Sourabh Verma.

Glasgow's Susan Egelstaff is the sole Scot in the singles after she reached the quart-finals with a 17-21, 21-18, 21-15 win over New Zealand's Michelle Chan Ky.

Egelstaff, who reached the semi-finals last year, had a bye through the first round and opened her bid for a first win in the Championships with a comfortable 21-11, 21-9 triumph over Belgium's Stefanie Bertels.

The big shock of the day was the defeat for the defending champion Liz Cann by Jeanine Cicognini. If the seedings had worked out, the English player should have met Egelstaff in the semi-finals.