Badminton: Oslo display shows Susan Egelstaff is in mood

Susan Egelstaff completed her preparations for the defence of her women's singles title at this week's Bank of Scotland International Championships at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena by reaching the semi-finals of the Norwegian International at the weekend.

The 28-year-old from Glasgow, the only Scot competing in Oslo, defeated Laura Vana of Estonia 21-12, 21-11 and Germany's Carola Bott 21-19, 21-14 on Friday then knocked out sixth seed Karina Jorgensen of Denmark 21-11, 21-15 in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

That earned her a semi-final clash with third seed Larisa Griga, but the Scot went down 21-16, 21-15 against her opponent from Ukraine.

Egelstaff, the second seed in Oslo, is also second seed in Glasgow this week. She is on course for a rematch with 2008 champion Elizabeth Cann, the England player who avenged her bronze medal play-off defeat in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne by beating Egelstaff at the same stage in Delhi last month after losing to her in the team event.

Russia's Tatyana Bibik is the third seed and big danger to Cann and Egelstaff. But the Scot beat Bibik in the quarter-finals in Glasgow last year.

The championships start with men's singles qualifying tomorrow afternoon, with the first and second rounds commencing at 10am on Thursday. There is a full day of play on Friday, followed by the quarter- and semi-finals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday afternoon.

Tickets are still available, and can be purchased from the Kelvin Hall box office throughout the tournament.