Badminton: Russia rout Scots women in Warsaw quarter-finals

BADMINTON: Scotland's women last night crashed out of the European Women's Team Championships in Warsaw to a strong Russia side.

The Scots had earlier progressed from a tough group containing Ukraine, hosts Poland and seeds France but then succumbed to a 3-0 quarter-final loss to a side featuring current Bank of Scotland International women's doubles champions Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova and former singles champion Ella Diehl.

The tournament had started slowly for the Scottish women as they suffered a disappointing 3-2 loss to Ukraine on the opening day of the competition.

They rallied to beat France 3-2 before a convincing 4-1 over the Poles on Thursday left the Scots with a nail-biting wait as France played Ukraine. A win for Ukraine would have sent Scotland crashing out, but France came through to take the victory, leaving them tied with Scotland at the top of the group with two wins each. Scotland progressed to the quarter-finals courtesy of their head-to-head record against France.