While the England team fled Hyderabad in fear of a terrorist attack on the eve of the world badminton championships, Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff and Alistair Casey will be playing in the first round in the Indian city.

England’s decision followed media reports of a specific Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist threat against the Championships. Following the reports, Badminton England felt the team was at risk.

"This was an incredibly tough decision and one we didn't take lightly,” said Adrian Christy, Chief Executive of Badminton England. “After the Olympic Games, this is the most prestigious Championships in the world but we were not prepared to risk the safety of our players, coaches and staff in what we felt could have been a very volatile environment.”

However, Scotland’s High Performance Coach, Dan Travers, who is with the two Scottish players in India, confirmed that he had no thoughts of returning home. 

“The newspaper report had no foundation,” he claimed. “I am keeping in constant contact with the Home and the Foreign Office, but I’ve been told that the threat is no greater now than it was six months ago. 

“When we got to the arena, some of the English players felt that security was not as tight as they expected, but we are not too concerned. No one seems to know who wrote the newspaper report, or where it came from.

“When we arrived at the airport on Friday, we were picked up by car and had a security guard with a gun in the front seat and another car with security men in front of us. 

"When we got to the hotel and the practice courts, security was relatively low key, but we felt quite safe. But now that England have pulled out, there are guards swarming everywhere. I think they’ve brought in thousands of them.”

Paying under her married name for the first time, Scottish Champion Egelstaff – formerly Susan Hughes – was trying to stay focused on her first round singles tie against Finland’s Anu Nieminen. “I’m just thinking about the match,” said the Glasgow 26-year-old. 

“It’s going to be tough, but it’s definitely one I can win. I got married in May, which seems ages ago, but it is strange seeing another name on the back of my t-shirt.

”We honeymooned in Italy but, since then, I've had a great summer's training and it's quite nice to be getting back into the routine again. 

"I"m not seeded, so could have had a really tough first round. It will be hard against Anu, but really it's about as good a first round draw as I could have expected.

Glasgow’s Casey opens his campaign against Bulgaria’s Stillan Makarski.

Scotland’s world top ten mixed doubles player, Imogen Bankier, was forced to pull out of the championships last month as she is suffering from a knee injury.