Badminton

World Badminton Championships shows Britain does actually have talent

Published

4 weeks ago

13 de February de 2025

Posted: Wednesday 24th August 2011 | 9:37

JUDGING by the myriad Beefeater mannequins and the mock No.10 Downing Street facade from which the players entered the arena, the recent World Badminton Championships were about showcasing the best of Britain in terms of tourism not talent.

SILVER LINING: Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier gave Badminton England reason to smile at the recent World Championships at Wembley Arena

Watching the competitors emerging from David Cameron’s front door was somewhat surreal – especially if you let your mind wander to the image of the PM returning home early from his Tuscan holiday to reproach lawless London, only to startle some shuttlers in his living room – but Chinese TV stations no doubt appreciated the touch, as would event organisers who pointed their marketing strategies eastwards.

For badminton is big in China. Lin Dan, who arrived at Wembley Arena as the second seed but won his fourth world title (he’s also the Olympic champion), is the bad boy who pulls in the big bucks and the Chinese on the whole are the dominant force.

At the last two World Championships combined they’ve won all ten gold medals on offer while at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, all 15 medals stayed in the Far East.

So what on earth did those brazen Brits think they were doing reaching the mixed doubles final?

Looking from a British perspective – and I can assure not a lot were at Wembley – things turned decidedly sour after the first two days.

Nathan Robertson, of 2004 Olympic silver medal winning fame along with Gail Emms, and new partner and girlfriend Jenny Wallwork were the only British seeds in the competition but crashed out on Tuesday and the British badminton outlook was bleak as a result.

Precious metal is the capital currency when it comes to elite sport in this country and so when Britain’s landscape was barren at Beijing 2008 – after badminton’s coffers were swelled after Athens 2004 – it didn’t take UK Sport long to tighten the purse-strings.

The morning after his elimination Robertson tweeted his anger at the pre-competition preparations, perhaps a dig at national governing body Badminton England, or at UK Sport but all was not happy in the British camp.

Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders after Terrible Tuesday but the relief he exuded after the Anglo-Scottish dream team Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier reached the quarter-finals was palpable.

‘A very good day at the office,’ he proclaimed, arguing that the goals set out to the team had been reached.

Anyone with a passing interest in badminton – or anyone who is temporarily bewitched by it every four years – might wonder how he did so with a straight face.

After all, British badminton is synonymous with memories of Robertson and Emms and their on-court ‘chemistry’ – an intriguing sub-plot to their 2004 Olympic odyssey was whether they were sharing more than just shuttlecocks – and of course, their success.

Two years after Olympic silver they won world gold, beating fellow Brits Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg in the final and so you may wonder, how can expectations fall so dramatically in five years.

But badminton’s demise is demonstrative of how much medals matter to UK Sport and how difficult it is to arrest a downturn in minority sports in Great Britain – and Christy was preparing for another chastising in Bloomsbury if no Brits reached the last eight.

And so enter Adcock and Bankier who brought the roof down en route to the final – once those Londoners for whom Olympic fever is in full bloom eventually got wind of their success story.

For with beach volleyball beguiling at Horse Guards Parade at the time, the London 2012 badminton test event played second fiddle in the capital – or perhaps third if you consider the BlackBerry Messenger-fuelled trail of destruction.

But you got the feeling Adcock and Bankier would have been as enthused, as giddy and as downright delighted had the World Championships taken place in Mr Cameron’s living room, not just outside his front door.

But Wembley was indeed the setting for their bewildering march to the final. England vs. the Netherlands was a no-no in north-west London but badminton does not bow to BBM-ers.

In truth, test-event wise, the competition passed off relatively successfully – a few stories of competitors forced to change in the toilets aside – and while the mixed zone for us journalists was marginally bigger than a phone box without the mod-cons of the Tardis, it will be far different when the five-ringed family waltz into town next year.

But the one thorny issue regarding hosting badminton at Wembley Arena is that of travel time (not Tardis induced time travel) to and from the Olympic Village in east London – and this was not tested which was an apparent missed opportunity.

Adcock and Bankier couldn’t careless however. Already branded the new Robertson and Emms, the new faces of British badminton, they capitalised on home advantage, seized their chance and are now world silver medallists.

They didn’t exactly knock the looters off the front pages but ears pricked at their success, Olympic hype wasn’t quite cranked all the way up to 11 but it did creep up a notch and Christy immediately looked ten years younger.

One thing you can be fairly sure of though, they will have barely caused a ripple in China.

Badminton

Coup for British Basketball as Euroleague Final Four heads to London

Published

4 weeks ago

13 de February de 2025

James Cartwright

BRITISH basketball has received a major boost this week with news the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four will be heading to London’s O2 Arena this May.

FULL HOUSE: Organisers will be hoping to fill the O2 to capacity for the Euroleague Final Four in May

The performances of Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng and his British teammates at the London 2012 Olympic Games caught the imagination of the nation in the summer.

However, with Britain’s premier players plying their trade abroad, the Euroleague final will offer a rare opportunity for spectators in the country to watch the continent’s best in action in May, hopefully paving the way, long-term, for a London franchise.

The Euroleague Final is a three-day championship event taking place from May 10-12 and marks the finale of an eight month-long competition involving the top 24 European teams.

Euroleague has committed to hosting the season ending event in London in 2013, with an option to also play the 2014 edition at the O2 Arena, as part of a long-term strategy to commit to the development of basketball in the UK.

Paul Blake, chairman of the British Basketball League (BBL), said: “We are really excited about the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four coming to London and the opportunity it will present the sport of basketball in the UK.

“With a long term strategy, I hope to see a British team competing in the league in the future.”

Euroleague is Europe’s premier basketball competition and in the 12 years since it was established, it has grown to become the world’s second largest basketball competition after the NBA.

The 24 teams compete across 12 major European cities and regularly host pre-season games against touring NBA teams.

Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO, said: “Euroleague is thrilled to bring the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four competition to The O2 Arena in London.

“We are currently in talks to establish a partnership with the BBL, where we also want to run an incredible CSR programme, leaving a lasting legacy with the hope that basketball in the UK will eventually be mature enough to have a team in the Euroleague competition.”

Badminton

OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Egelstaff delighted with Olympian status despite exit

Published

4 weeks ago

13 de February de 2025

James Cartwright

By Sean-Paul Doran, , London 2012

GREAT Britain’s Susan Egelstaff is hoping to enjoy the perks of being an Olympic athlete as her London 2012 dream ended against Japan’s Sayaka Sato.

KNOCKED OUT: Susan Egelstaff loses to Japan’s Sayaka Sato but remains upbeat with making it to home Olympics

Egelstaff fell to a 19-21, 21-16, 21-12 defeat against world No. 12 Sato in her last group game as she exited the competition despite winning her first tie against Slovenia’s Maja Tvrdy on Saturday.

The double Commonwealth Games bronze medallist wasn’t expecting to progress from a tough group and is planning to make the most of her status as a home Olympian.

“Obviously on paper she was expected to beat me. I was pleased with how I played. The support I was getting pushed me on to play even better,” she said.

“I’m pleased I did well and now I can enjoy the rest of the Olympics. I’ll not get another again so I want to make the best of it.

“I will have a little rest and will do some celeb spotting. I saw Roger Federer in the village the other day – that’s the best one so far.”

The Scot dispatched Tvrdy (21-15, 21-10) in front of Prince Charles at Wembley Arena on Saturday to make the tie against Sato the group decider.

After a strong start, Egelstaff took the first game 21-19, leading the interval 11-7 and holding off a late comeback from her Japanese opponent.

But Sato produced a markedly-improved performance in the second game to draw level and secure her place in the last 16, with a convincing win in the last face-off.

And while she is still considering her next move after the Games, 29-year-old Egelstaff is doubtful of her chances of making Rio 2016.

“For the last four years the only thing I’ve been thinking about is qualifying for the Olympic Games. It’ll be nice to have a bit of a rest,” she added.

“I’m a little too old for that (qualifying for Rio 2016). I’m really happy the one Olympics I’ll play at is here. I’ve never done anything like this before.

“I’m really pleased I played well but of course I’m disappointed to lose.”

Badminton

OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Adcock and Bankier suffer defeat in mixed doubles

Published

4 weeks ago

13 de February de 2025

James Cartwright

CHRIS Adcock and Imogen Bankier slumped to a disappointing defeat as their London 2012 Olympic mixed doubles campaign got off to a stuttering start.

THREE SET DEFEAT: Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier started brightly but tailed off as the Russian pair snatched a win in the mixed doubles

Last year’s World silver medallists started well against Russia’s Alexandr Nikolaenko and Valeri Sorokina, but after winning the first set they slumped to a 14-21, 21-9, 21-18 defeat in just over an hour.

It puts the pressure on the British pair ahead of two more group matches at Wembley Arena – including a clash with world champions and top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.

On paper the world number ten pair should have beaten the Russians, who are five places below them on the world rankings.

But they allowed concentration to slip in the second set and their rivals ruthlessly took advantage.

It means they must now beat Germany’s Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels, the world number 22 pair, on Sunday.

Their final game is a repeat of last year’s world final although they’ve won twice against their Chinese rivals in the last 12 months and will still believe progressing to the quarter-finals, only the top two in each four strong group advance, is in their hands.

“The first set was really good and then it all changed,” admitted Adcock.

“We didn’t get the advantage that we wanted so it led to them getting it instead.

“We got a great start,wWe put the pressure on but didn’t keep it up. The final game turned into a bit of a scrap and unfortunately we were on the losing end of it.

“It’s a round robin so we know we’ve got two games we can definitely win.”

Bankier insisted she was still confident about progressing to the knockout stages, despite the task becoming much harder.

“We’re extremely disappointed but we’ve just got to get over it,” she said

“We’ve still got a chance of getting through. We know we can play better than that so we need to regroup and get through.”

“We’ll take a few hours, recover, start looking at the video and work out a plan with the coaches, then do it all again tomorrow.”

Badminton

Robertson relishing brief spell away from London 2012 heat at nationals

Published

4 weeks ago

13 de February de 2025

James Cartwright

NATHAN Robertson’s Olympic ambitions might be back on track – but he is still relishing some time out of the London 2012 spotlight at the English National Badminton Championships.

AWAY FROM THE LIMELIGHT: Nathan Robertson is relishing competing at the English National Championships, an event that doesn’t count towards London 2012 Olympic selection

It’s been practically all doom and gloom for Robertson, 34, and mixed doubles partner Jenny Wallwork, since they crashed out in the second round of the World Championships last summer.

That setback was compounded by British rivals Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier taking an unlikely silver – a result that they have built upon, and Robertson and Wallwork, have struggled to deal with, in the following months.

However Robertson and Wallwork struck a key blow at the Malaysian Open in January, dumping Bankier and Adcock out at the first round stage before winning the Swedish International.

They still trail the duo in the world rankings leaving the battle fascinatingly poised heading into the last three months of the year-long London 2012 qualification window.

And, while the pendulum has seemingly swung back in Robertson’s favour, he admits stepping out of the frying pan of Olympic selection in Bolton, is welcomed.

“The nationals are always quite a relieving tournament because you get to take a step away from all the travelling around the world,” said Robertson – who currently sits 18th in the mixed doubles world rankings with Wallwork while Adcock and Bankier are 14th.

“I wish we had more opportunities to play in front of the British public really. I know from previous Olympic qualification periods how important a home crowd can be so hopefully they can spur us on to a good result again.

“I also got a taste of it at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester which was great and I know London 2012 will be ten times that atmosphere.

“I have always enjoyed playing at home and have managed to pick up a fair few national titles and this year is no different.”

Robertson proves himself to be a master of understatement in his assessment of his achievements at the English National Championships.

Mixed doubles victory would put him level with men’s doubles legend Mike Tredgett on 16 national title wins.

However, while a break from the jet-setting and high pressure existence that is Olympic qualification is welcome, Robertson acknowledges that ultimately it’s all about London 2012.

“I know I am close to setting a new record in terms of a number of titles at the nationals and it is a nice thing to have on your CV is suppose,” added Robertson – who is chasing his third Olympics appearance in the capital.

“But this year that is not dominating my mind, instead I am more focussed on getting back on the Olympic trail.”

Watch the English National Badminton Championships LIVE! Purchase tickets at www.nationalbadmintonchamps.co.uk or call the box office on 0844 5811 424.