Beith’s Eleanor O’Donnell fell just short of the mixed pairs quarter final at the European Badminton Championships.

O’Donnell went into the tournament fresh off the back of the European Mixed Teams Championships in February after the Scotland squad decided to pull out of the Polish Open in March.

That was due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country and concerns about missing the Europeans if anyone had to isolate, meaning that O’Donnell just had training blocks in between both European tournaments.

O’Donnell paired up with fellow Scot Christopher Grimley for the mixed pairs and in the first round they came up against Norwegian duo Carl Christian Mork and Solvår Flåten Jørgensen.

She said: “It was quite nerve wrecking going into that game as it was our first Europeans playing together as a mixed pair.

“So, it took us a while to settle in, but we were just really happy that we got that first win, we then looked to prepare for the next match.”

After that 21-17,21-17 victory over the Norwegians the Scottish duo’s preparation went into their second round match up against Irish brother and sister duo Samuel and Chloe Magee.

Unfortunately, the Scots were unable to overcome the siblings succumbing to a 21-16, 21-15 defeat, with O’Donnell: “I don’t think we played the best that we could have and we were both disappointed by that. But the Irish pair are a good team and they have caused some big upsets in the circuit over the years.

“They have been in the circuit for a long time, so they know what they are doing and how to work the game. Christopher and I haven’t played them before, so it was nice to see what we need to do to get to their level. “

Despite O’Donnell falling just short of the quarter finals it did not mean the Scottish team left the tournament empty handed.

Kirsty Gilmour picked up a bronze medal in the women’s singles, with O’Donnell saying: “Throughout the week she played superbly and we were all rooting for her to get that medal, we are a close team. “