Egelstaff 'battered' but Bankier and Blair win

Susan Egelstaff admitted she was "battered" by China's Xin Liu in the first round of the women's singles but Imogen Bankier and Robert Blair were happier Scots after they both won mixed doubles ties at the Yonex All England Open in Birmingham.

Liu won the Yonex German Open Grand Prix last Sunday and the world No?9 continued her great form by inflicting a disheartening 21-8, 21-11 victory on the Glasgow 28-year-old.

"It was a tough draw but she was just so much better than me," said a desperately disappointed Egelstaff. "I didn't feel I played too badly but the Chinese players are so good that you can't force them to make any mistakes. I think she could go on to win this week.

"I'm playing in the Swiss Open next week so I'll just have to pick myself up and work even harder. The Olympic qualification starts in May and that's my No?1 goal."

In the mixed doubles, Bankier and England's Chris Adcock, the Bank of Scotland International Champions, hit form to beat Japan's Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota 21-12, 21-19.

Blair and England's Gabby White also made it through to the last 16 with a straight-games win over Thailand's Patipat Chalardchaleam and Savitree Amitapai. They trailed 10-17 in the first game before rallying to win it 21-19.

Bankier, who reached the All England quarter-finals and achieved a world top ten ranking with Blair three years ago, was delighted to continue a great run of form with her new partner.

She said: "We got to the semi-finals of the German Open last week and that gave us a lot of confidence. Today we made a really good start then lost our way a little in the second but it was great to fight back and we're going through a really good spell."

Ikeda and Shiota reached the final in Germany - losing to Blair and White - and Adcock continued: "We had really done our homework.

"We watched them a lot last week and on video and it paid off today."

Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork also eased into the second round. England's top pair, ranked eighth in the world but unseeded in Birmingham this week, saw off Indonesia's Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto 21-16 21-19 in the mixed doubles first round.

Their reward is a tough clash with Poland's fourth seeds Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba in the last 16 today.