Badminton: Blair draws on gifts of the Gabby as he beats flu and Thai partnership

Edinburgh-born Robert Blair shrugged off a lingering bout of flu to clear the first-round hurdle with England's Gabby White in the mixed badminton doubles at the Yonex All England Open in Birmingham.

The British pair looked in big trouble when they trailed 10-17 in the first game to Thailand's Patipat Chalardchaleam and Savitree Amitapai.

But they hit back to take the next seven points before capturing the game. The second was far more straightforward and they ran out comfortable 21-19, 21-13 winners.

"I've been suffering from a bit of flu and my legs were very tired," admitted Blair. "I was surprised how well they played in the first game but then I think we gave them a bit of a shock by coming back. We had managed to adapt by the second game and Gabby played really well. It's good to get through and I'm feeling better so hopefully tomorrow will be another good match."

Glasgow's Imogen Bankier also made it to the last 16 with England's Chris Adcock, beating Japan's Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota, who lost to Blair and White in the German final, by a relatively easy 21-12, 21-19 scoreline. In the singles, Scottish Champion Susan Egelstaff suffered a crushing 8-21, 11-21 defeat from China's world No.9, Xin Liu.