Scotland failed in their promotion bid last night when they were defeated by India in the live televised deciding match in Group 3B.

Wins against New Zealand and Finland raised hopes of topping the section to qualify for a play-off against France, but in a deafening atmosphere in the Scotstoun International Arena the Scots failed to take their chances.

The writing was on the wall after the opening mixed doubles which teenagers Watson Briggs and Imogen Bankier lost after taking the first set 21-18.

With thunder sticks creating a deafening din, there was nowhere to hide even in timeouts, when television cameras allowed players and coaching staff no space to breathe. It was the kind of environment neither Scot had experienced before.

The match was tense and error-strewn and ended on a controversial note when the Scots appealed to the umpire that an Indian opponent moved before the shuttlecock was served.

Bankier believed a fault should have been called although she did not go so far as to say it cost the match. "That's not why we lost but it didn't help. They were quality opponents and we knew what to expect, but on the day we didn't do enough," she said.

Their opponents Diju V and his partner, Aparna Balan, a tiny girl who barely reached net height, took the second set 21-16 and won 10 out of 12 points in a critical phase in the deciding set coming from 8-3 down to win 21-18.

The noise may even have worked against the Scots at 18-17 when Briggs shouted to Bankier to leave a shuttle that was heading out. She played it and ultimately lost the point before that discordant note at the end.

Susan Hughes had been dropped in favour of Rita Yuan Gao in the match against Finland, but that decision was reversed last night.

Dan Travers, the national coach and one of three selectors, explained: "Rita was out on her feet after the Finland match. We knew the Indian girl would grind everything out and it had obviously shaken Susan up when we put Rita in."

With the much higher rated Indian male singles player Anup Sridhar expected to beat Craig Goddard, it was essential that Hughes won her match against 17-year-old Saina Nehwal, world ranked 39 - 12 places lower - to give Scotland a chance.

Hughes, wearing a bandage on her right knee for what she called "a niggle", lost the first set 21-15 but thrilled the crowds by levelling 21-19 before her younger opponent pulled away to win the decider 21-12.

Goddard raised hopes of an unlikely fightback by taking the first set 21-19, but the match was put out of Scotland's reach at 3-0 when Sridhar took the next two sets 21-7, 21-11.

While Scotland will play today for 19th place out of the 48 countries taking part, England were assured of a bronze medal when they beat Thailand 4-1 to finish second in Group 1A behind China.

It is the first time England have reached the semi-finals in 10 attempts and they meet Indonesia tomorrow.