Badminton: Imogen Bankier closes in on third title

Scotland's Imogen Bankier reached the final of the mixed doubles after two great wins with England's Chris Adcock, but Susan Egelstaff, the No 3 seed, suffered a disappointing last-eight exit at the Italian International in Rome yesterday.

Bankier and Adcock won the Bank of Scotland Scottish International in Glasgow last month and added a second victory in the Yonex Irish International last Sunday. The double helped them rise 21 places to No 60 in yesterday's new world ranking list and the hope of making it three titles in a row stayed alive with two straight-games wins.

In the quarter-finals, the Britons beat the Dutch pair of Jacco Arends and Selena Piek 21-17 21-18, before winning 21-11 21-19 against Poland's Lukosz Moren and Natalia Pocztowjak.

The No 6 seeds now meet the unseeded pair of Estonia's Gert Kunka and Sweden's Amanda Hogstrom in the final and another win will take them close to the world's top 50.

Egelstaff claimed her first win of the year in Ireland last week and had hoped to score a revenge win over Tatyana Bibik, the Russian who beat her in the semi-finals of the Bank of Scotland Scottish International in Glasgow last month. But Bibik again proved too strong, winning 21-18 17-21 21-18.