Scotland started strongly but ended tamely and fell to top seeds Malaysia in the quarter-finals of the team badminton event last night.

Now all medal hopes rest on the individual events, which start on Tuesday.

Robert Blair and Imogen Bankier gave the home side a glorious start with a deciding game victory in the mixed doubles, but defeats in the two singles and then the men's doubles ended the match in Malaysia's favour.

It had looked so rosy when Blair and Bankier, after more than an hour on court, finally posted the first point on the board. The home favourites had four game points in the first, but it was Peng Soon Chan and Lai Pei Jing who took it 24-22.

However, Blair and Bankier are both experienced Olympians with World Championship medals in their locker and, spurred on by the partisan 5000-strong crowd, they battled back to win the next two games 21-9, 21-11. There was hope that the fifth-seeded underdogs were on a roll.

"It was always going to be tough," said Edinburgh-born Blair, who won medals for England at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. "It was a shame not to win the first game because we really dominated it, but then we got a good run in the second."

The 32-year-old knew that the opening rubber was vital if Scotland were to have any chance of repeating the bronze medal win in Manchester 2002. "Malaysia is a big badminton country and they were carrying a lot of expectations. Losing the first match piled on the pressure," he said.

The Malaysians coped with ease, though. Kieran Merrilees put up a decent fight in the men's event against left-handed Chong Wei Feng, ranked No 18 in the world. Both games were competitive, but the Malaysian levelled the match 21-16, 21-14.

Bothwell's Kirsty Gilmour, the No 2 seed for the individual events, was expected to take the women's singles point against Jing Yi Tee. However, the 20-year-old seemed all out of sorts and lost 10-21, 15-21.

"I wasn't even close to my best," said the Scottish Champion, who played with strapping on her right wrist. "I'm usually a banker for those sort of matches but, to be fair to her, she played really well. But I'll learn a lot - it will be back to the drawing board before the individual events."

In the men's doubles, Martin Campbell was hoping to pull off a significant shock alongside Patrick MacHugh and make it the perfect celebration for his 24th birthday. However, they were unable to get the better of Wee Kiong Tan and Wei Shem Goh, who won 21-12 21-15. Malaysia now face Singapore - 3-0 winners over Australia - in the semi-final. The other match is between England and India.