Susan Egelstaff may be a new name, but the former Miss Hughes has proved that she is still going to be a force at the top level after a fine performance at the controversial world championships in Hyderabad in India.

While the English team all headed home due to a terrorist threat, Egelstaff took the opportunity to prove her early season fitness with a fine win over Finland’s Anu Nieminen followed by a close match against China’s No.4 seed, Yihan Wang.

Susan is currently ranked No.29 in the world – the top British player and 16 spots higher than the Bank of Scotland International Champion, Liz Cann (England).

It shows that the Glasgow 26-year-old could be a serious challenger for the 2012 London Olympics.

“I was married in May (to Yonex representative Dylan Egelstaff) and we honeymooned in Italy and then I got back into training and put in a really good summer’s work,” said Susan.   

“I was delighted with the way I played in India, it was a good start to the season. I now have another couple of weeks on the practice courts before the Yonex Belgian International at the start of next month.

“I’m looking forward to the new campaign, and the fact that the Commonwealth games are now less than a year away is another incentive. I won a bronze medal in Melbourne last time, and that was definitely one of the highlights of my career.”