Nathan Robertson is in positive mood as he moves closer to defending the Commonwealth Games mixed doubles title he won with Gail Emms in Melbourne four years ago.

He and new partner Jenny Wallwork battled through two tough games on a busy day of badminton in Delhi today to book a semi-final berth against the number four seeds Peng Chan and Liu Goh of Malaysia.

“We possibly played better this morning but it’s been tough with so many games in one day,” said the 32-year-old after beating Scotland’s Watson Briggs and Imogen Bankier in the quarter-finals just a few hours after scrapping to a hard to a 21-19, 21-17 victory over Singapore’s Hendra Wijaya and Shinta Mulia. 

“Maybe we were 10 per cent short tonight but the Scottish pair played really well. They played well against us in the team event as well, so that probably gave them confidence.

“We were really good on the big points and we had to come back from 19-14 down in the last game. But we are very solid and a bit of experience pulled us through.”

“We weren’t quite on it tonight but we managed to pull through,” agreed Wallwork who won a bronze medal with Robertson at the European championships this year.

“I hope we play better tomorrow and really push for that medal. We played at our highest standard a couple of days ago and hoe we can do that again now.”

England’s other mixed doubles partnerships both lost three-setters to go out at the quarter-final stage.

Anthony Clark and Heather Olver were a set up against Singapore’s Chayut Triyachart and Lei Yao but eventually lost 21-19, 8-21, 21-12, while Chris Adcock and Gabby White lost a tight game against Chan and Goh 22-20, 16-21, 21-11.

Rajiv Ouseph was pleased with his day’s work after claiming a place in the men’s singles semi-finals where he’ll face India’s sixth seed Kashyap Parupalli.

“Today was tough but I’m in good shape for tomorrow,” said Ouseph after beating Wong Zi of Singapore in his quarter-final.

The number two seed dropped a game in his first match today but eventually made the quarter-finals with a three-set win against Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne, 21-5, 12-21, 21-15 before dispatching the Singaporean seventh seed.

“I was expecting to get through to the semis which put a bit of pressure on me,” he said.

“The crowd tomorrow may have an effect if I get down but I’ll just try and ignore them and concentrate on my own game.”

Carl Baxter beat Gareth Henry of Jamaica to make the quarter-finals but went out to India’s third seed Chetan Buradagunta.

Liz Cann beat Canada’s Michelle Li in three games to set up a semi-final against Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia in the women's doubles.

Robertson and Clark made it to the men’s doubles semi-finals, beating Canadians Jon Vandervert and Toby Ng before seeing off Muhammad Hashim and Chan of Malaysia in the quarter-finals.

White and Wallwork are in the women’s doubles semi-finals after winning a three-game quarter-final against Malaysian pair Goh and Li Cheah, following their 21-12, 21-15 defeat of Canada’s Grace Gao and Joycelyn Ko in the last 16.

But Olver and Mariana Agathangelou were knocked out by India’s Ashwini Machimanda and Jwala Gutta, having beaten the Sri Lankans Subodha Yapa Dahanayake and Thilini Jayasinghe in the last 16.