Badminton: Scots quintet off on right foot in Glasgow

Kieran Merrilees, the No 10 seed, survived a second-game lapse to join her in the second round and Linda Sloan, Rebekka Findlay and Gordon Hoggan completed a satisfactory quintet of opening day singles triumphs for the home players.

Gilmour is tipped as a future British No 1 by Scottish coach, Yvette Yun Luo and she brushed aside a spirited effort from England's Alex Langley to go through to the last 32 with a 21-19 21-13 scoreline. She now meets another English player, Munn-Tzin Bong.

"I had ten days off with shingles at the top of my right leg and it certainly wasn't pleasant," admitted Gilmour, who competed for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last month. But I was determined to play because this is my favourite tournament of the year.

"This is only my third day back and I'm not 100 per cent. My fitness has dropped a little and I didn't play my best. But I'm taking some painkillers and it was so good to get through."

In her sixth year at the Glasgow School of Sport at Bellahouston Academy, Gilmour hopes to go on to take a degree in film and television studies at Glasgow University next year. But her big date is Glasgow 2014 and the next Commonwealth Games.

"Delhi was the best two weeks of my life," was the Bothwell 17-year-old's reflection on the Indian experience. "It was amazing, but I think Glasgow will be at another level altogether."

Over the past couple of seasons, Merrilees, has struggled to hold his concentration and finish off matches. It seemed to be more of the same in his opening encounter against Nigeria's Eneojo Abah.

Sporting a new spiky hairstyle - "I decided to go wild for this tournament" - the redhead took the first game easily but trailed 2-7 before finding the inspiration to scramble home 21-7 21-16.

"I was happy with the first game but made a horrendous start to the second," said the Glasgow 21-year-old, who now faces Denmark's Thomas Fynbo. "But I kept fighting and was pleased to win in straight games.

"When I was younger, I used to rely on my badminton skills but now I'm beginning to realise that I need to be mentally tough as well. It was also difficult in the second game because the music and the noise from the kids (at the Bank of Scotland Carnival] in the other hall kept wafting over and it was tough not to be distracted."

Hoggan had to play an extra game to claim his place in the second round. The Dunfermline youngster battled to a 21-17 14-21 21-15 win over Malaysia's Sattawat Pongnairat and now meets England's Jamie Bonsels.Sloan comfortably dismissed her English opponent, Sarah Walker, 21-18 21-16, while Findlay defeated Nigeria's Maria Braimah 21-14 21-16 and they go to into the second round, which will mark the entry for Scotland's defending champion and No2 seed, Susan Egelstaff.