Badminton: Jillie Cooper in the mood for retaining title

Published on Wednesday 18 November 2009 09:20

TWELVE months ago, Edinburgh's Jillie Cooper enjoyed the best moment of her career when she teamed up with England's Mariana Agathangelou and won the women's doubles at the Bank of Scotland Scottish International Badminton Championships at Glasgow's Kevin Hall.

The 21-year-old is back this week to defend the title – but this time she has a different English partner in Samantha Ward.

Agathangelou, meanwhile, joins forces with Cooper's Capital colleague, Emma Mason.

"I'm really looking forward to playing at home again," said Cooper, who is based at Milton Keynes as a full-time member of the GB squad. "The selectors are trying out a few different partnerships and I train a lot with Samantha.

"Next month, Emma and I will be playing together at the Irish Open, that will be the first time we've been paired together."

Cooper suffered a setback in the summer when she underwent an operation on her toe, and she still feels she has to get back to her best. "I played four tournaments in a row at the start of the season and it was maybe too much," she suggested.

"It's difficult to keep up your fitness when you're playing in a run of tournaments. But I definitely think Samantha and I have a chance this week.

"Our first match isn't until Friday and I'm feeling quite optimistic. I'm also in the mixed doubles with another English player, Chris Langridge, and I'm hoping we can have a decent tournament."

The Championships were due to start today with the qualifying rounds, while the two seeded Scots are in the singles, Susan Egelstaff and Kieran Merrilees.

Egelstaff, the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, is the No.2 seed in the girls' event and is hoping she can land the title for a first time. Last year, the former Miss Hughes reached the semi-final before being knocked out by England's Liz Cann.

Cann went on to lift the trophy and is back to defend as the No.4 seed. This time, the favourite is the two-time former champion from Russian, Ella Diehl.

"I know I've not always done my best in the past in Glasgow," said Egelstaff, who got married in the city in May. "But I'm trying to treat this as just another week and I'm feeling good."

Merrilees is the No.9 seed and is a 20-year-old who has the potential to become one of Scotland's best men's singles players.

For all the Scots, the countdown has started towards the Commonwealth games in India next October. And for Cooper and Co, the really big goal on the horizon is the 2012 Olympic Games in London.