Badminton: Emma Mason and Jillie Cooper share Olympic goal

It's been a roller coaster few years for Emma Mason. But the next chapter in her badminton career unfolds this week when she teams up with another Edinburgh player, Jillie Cooper, at the Bank of Scotland Scottish International Championships at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.

She's looking forward to an exciting challenge with a new partner in the women's doubles and the Capital pair intend to make a real stab at getting into the GB team for the London 2012 Olympics.

Following a year wasted by injury and then a spell as a full-time player based at the GB National Centre in Milton Keynes, 24-year-old Mason has taken the decision to return to Glasgow University and complete her degree in maths and chemistry. But badminton is still a priority.

"I want to have a degree behind me and I've got two years to go," explained the former George Heriot's pupil. "I'm still training hard, but it's just more difficult to fit everything in. I must admit, I don't have much time for socialising.

"I tend to do all my physical stuff very early in the morning and then train with Jillie and the rest of the national squad at Scotstoun in Glasgow in the evenings. Both the coaches, Yvette Yun Luo and John Quinn, are really good."

Mason and Cooper have never been a regular pairing, but both are delighted at the prospect of a settled time together.

"As a member of the British squad, I played with six people last year and it was a bit up and down for all of us," said Mason, who currently holds the Yonex Scottish national title with Glasgow's Imogen Bankier. "I'm very pleased that I'm playing with Jillie.

"It's not quite been finalised, but I'm pretty confident it is going to be for the long term and we'll be playing in all the major tournaments together."

Two years ago, Cooper scored a memorable victory in the women's doubles at the Kelvin Hall with England's Mariana Agathangelou. But, since then, the 22-year-old is another who has had constantly changed partners. This week, they are drawn against a young English couple in the first round - Jessica Fletcher and Sarah Milne - but could face England's No.?3 seeds, Jenny Wallwork and Gabby White, in the quarter-finals.

Cooper, meanwhile, will start out on a journey which could eventually lead to the 2012 Olympics.

She said: "Reaching the Olympics will be a tough call and we will need to be in the world top 30 but that is definitely something Emma and I can try for.We are going to be a partnership at least for the next six months or a year and feel we are capable of winning this week even though it is always a strong tournament.

"I won in 2008 and Emma reached the final last year so there's no reason why we can't come out on top and go on from there" she added.

Underlining her commitment to the domestic scene, Cooper has returned from a base in Milton Keynes to train at Glasgow's Scotstoun complex having benefited from a trip to this summer's Commonwealth Games.

"Working with Yvette Yun Luo and John Quinn is ideal and the Games were a good experience all round especially reaching the quarter-finals of the team event."