Imogen Bankier and Emma Mason hit top form to beat the No.13 seeds, Savitree Amitapai and Vacharaporn Munkit, in the first round of the women’s doubles at the Yonex BWF World Championships in Paris.

In the final match of the night and under the glare of the television cameras, the Yonex Scottish National Champions pulled off a magnificent 21-17 15-21 21-15 victory to set up a second round clash against the Dutch pair of Lotte Jonathans and Paulien Van Dooremalen.

“This is definitely one of our best ever wins,” said Glasgow’s Bankier after the tough three ender. “We got a little tired in the second game, but never let them get going in the third.”

Mason, from Edinburgh, added: “This is the tops. We were determined to knock them out of their rhythm in the decider and it worked.”

Having come off court after 10pm, the pair, who train at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, were delighted to discover they have a day’s rest before facing the unseeded Dutch couple.

In the women’s singles, Susan Egelstaff, the Bank of Scotland International Champion, took a lot of positives from her match against the South Korean seed, Seung Hee Bae. But Scotland’s No.1 still couldn’t prevent making a first round exit.

The Glasgow 27-year-old, who will be defending the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October, put up a heartening performance before going out 15-21 16-21 to Bae, the No.14 seed.

“I did a lot of things right, but just gave away a few too many cheap points,” summed up the Yonex Scottish Champion, ranked ten places behind Bae at No. 27 in the world. “The top players give you nothing and so what I have to try and do is rule out the unforced errors.

“It s just the odd point here and there, but it makes such a big difference. In the second game, I thought I could still come back (Egelstaff led 8-6) but gave the chance away with some mistakes.

“But I was pleased with my fitness and especially my court coverage. It is something that I have been working on with our national coach (China’s Yvette Yun Luo).

“Movement around the court has always been something I’ve had to work on and Yvette has had me working very hard over the summer. Overall, there were a lot of positives to take out of today.”

In the men’s event, Alistair Casey went out 16-21 15-21 to Canada’s David Snider, leaving fellow Glaswegian, Kieran Merrilees, as the only Scot in the singles.

But Merrilees is hopeful he can prolong Scottish interest in his event at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium with a successful first round match today (Tuesday) against Lithuania’s Kestutis Navickas.

“I haven’t played against him, but he competes in a lot of the same tournaments as me and so I know his game,” said the Glasgow youngster. “It will be tough, but I’ve got a good chance.”

If the 20-year-old does go through, he then is likely to face a massive match against Jin Chen, the No.4 seed from China. “It would be great to get through the first round and meet one of the world’s very best players,” he said.

Pictures courtesy of Sven Heise