Badminton: Yvette Yun Luo hoping for a Scottish renaissance

Scotland's national badminton coach Yvette Yun Luo is hopeful that this week's Bank of Scotland Scottish International Championships in Glasgow will show she is steering her new charges along the right course after 11 months in charge.

"Scotland is never going to be as big as England and it has been a challenging start to the job," admitted the 47-year-old Chinese, who has had coaching stints south of the Border and in Australia. "But there are some very good young prospects in Scotland and, hopefully, things are turning round and we will all have a good week at the Kelvin Hall."

As ever, Susan Egelstaff will be the major home hope. The 28-year-old defends the women's singles title as the No.2 seed and she will be out for revenge against favourite and 2008 champion, Liz Cann. An old foe, the English veteran delivered a cruel blow when she beat Egelstaff for the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last month.

Kieran Merrilees, who has had a rather unhappy season, is the No.10 seed in the men's singles but there are better home prospects in the doubles. Imogen Bankier joins England's Chris Adcock as the No.2 seeded pair in the mixed doubles and two promising 20-year-olds, Martin Campbell and Angus Gilmour, are similarly tipped to reach the final in the men's event.

Also in the men's doubles, 19-year-old Paul van Rietvelde teams up with Robert Blair as the No.6 seeds and the two Longniddry natives make an intriguing combination and are capable of causing a few upsets and denting some reputations.

A former world championship medallist, Blair played for Scotland then defected to England but is currently slightly in limbo and is back training in Glasgow.