Tine Rasmussen proves too strong for Susan Egelstaff in quarter-final

SCOTLAND'S Susan Egelstaff, the No8 seed, suffered a disappointingly heavy defeat from Denmark's Tine Rasmussen in the quarter-finals of the Yonex European Badminton Championships at the MEN Arena in Manchester yesterday.

The Bank of Scotland International Champion had been in fine form in winning her first two matches in straight games, but she never threatened to cause an upset against the All-England Open Champion.

Rasmussen was the No2 seed but claimed she had arrived in Manchester with a niggling back injury and little in the way of expectation. However, she showed her class in a 21-8, 21-16 victory. The match lasted just 25 minutes and ended Egelstaff's hopes of adding a European medal to the bronze won in Melbourne in 2006.

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"But at least I reached my seeded position and it was nice to be the last British woman in the singles," said the Glaswegian 27-year-old, who pushed China's world champion Lu Lan to three games at the All-England last month.

"This was my final tournament of the season and I'll now have a week's holiday before getting straight into summer training. I have the World Championships in August, but the main goal is to be ready for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

"After that, it will be the start of the qualifying period for the London 2012 Olympics."