Last weekend's return to international tournament play has boosted Imogen Bankier's confidence that she will still be competitive at elite level if she returns to full-time badminton later this year.

The 2011 World Championship mixed doubles silver medallist has dropped out of the professional national programme until August to sample life in business, but still only 27 has kept her longer term options open and contesting last weekend's Orleans International with Robert Mateusiak, her regular partner at the Chambly club in the French national league, was important in terms of checking that the time off has not been too damaging.

"It was really good fun," the 27-year-old Glaswegian of a run which saw them beat the French second seeds before losing a fierce battle in a deciding third set in the quarter-final to a Malaysian pair that was ranked third in the world two years ago.

"The pair that beat us have won a Super Series event so it was good to push them all the way."

It was, Bankier said, an overdue experiment, but successful as it was it is unlikely to be a long-term solution.

"I'm not sure what the prospects are," she said.

"He's 39 and has a coaching academy in Poland which he's been focusing on for the last year, but his level is still very good, even though he's now just practising once a day.

"We might play again at the Spanish Open in May. We've not discussed the future beyond that but I've got to say we played better than I expected.

"In two seasons we had never lost a match playing together for our club in France, but the question was whether we were as good as we thought we were or were just doing well at club level.

"It went really well, especially considering that I've not really been practising the way I should be."

Not yet able to disclose details, Bankier has other mixed doubles options beyond the summer, but prospective changes in Scottish badminton's set-up may also influence her thinking following the decision of Yvette Yun Luo to quit as head coach.

Though respectful of the former Chinese internationalist's contribution, Bankier disagreed with Luo's opposition to the continuation of her doubles partnership with Kirsty Gilmour, the country's top singles player and believes the door may now be open to a potential Commonwealth Games gold winning combination.

"I always clashed with with Yvette on this point. She was very much against Kirsty playing doubles. I have always thought the exact opposite, that it can benefit her singles," she explained.

"Kirsty's still young and fit enough to cope with two disciplines, there's no question of that, but with Yvette I met with a brick wall.

"Don't get me wrong, Yvette was good for us and a very experienced technical coach, but I think it is quite positive that we are getting someone new in and who that is will affect my feelings in August.

"The doubles was a big thing for me. There's certainly an opportunity to be the best in Britain, so maybe the Olympics is attainable, but women's doubles is very competitive at the top level whereas the coaches think Kirsty can be top 10 in singles in the next year or two and can be a world beater, while I've proved I can be a world beater at mixed."

There are no guarantees that other coaches will see things differently, but a new perspective offers the chance to make the case anew, given that Gilmour is stepping up to a new level in singles which can often involve the potentially demoralising scenario of extensive travelling to play only one or two matches.

"Fresh eyes might mean there's a chance of a bit of a shake-up," Bankier continued.

"To me it's a no-brainer at this stage of Kirsty's career. She is experiencing new cultures at a lot of these tournaments and playing doubles means another match at these bigger tournaments where it is only one match every day and she is not yet reaching quarter-finals and semi-finals.

"It was different when she was playing European events where playing both might mean involve four matches a day.

"I know Kirsty has her own opinions and ideas, but she is very respectful of Yvette who has taken her to a very high level.

"The coach has the final say and Kirsty's focus is singles where she has great potential. I wouldn't suggest anything that would be to the detriment of that, but I see the doubles as helpful from a developmental point of view."