Lothians duo shuttled past qualifying stage

BADMINTON stars Martin Campbell, from Edinburgh, and Longniddry's Paul Van Rietvelde received a big boost when they skipped the qualifying event and earned places in the main draw for today's Bank of Scotland International Championships at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall.

Following a number of late withdrawals, 18-year-old Campbell, the Bank of Scotland Under-19 Champion, was promoted to a first round tie against a qualifier, while Van Rietvelde, 17, has an opening tie against Scotland's fastest rising young talent, Kieran Merrilees. The Glasgow 18-year-old is a full-time player and is now a member of the GB squad based at Milton Keynes.

While Jillie Cooper and Watson Briggs are the No.3 seeds in the mixed doubles, Glasgow's Susan Hughes is the top hope to pull out a home victory. The 26-year-old has a bye through the first round and opens her account against Canada's Daphnee Laliberte.