| One hundred British medal hopefuls for 2012 #005: Nathan Robertson Britain's Olympic silver medallist from 2004 is building a new partnership with Jenny Wallwork"In the mixed doubles Jenny [Wallwork] and I got into the world's top 10 earlier this year and will be top seeds at the Commonwealth Games. We've been doing some team bonding at Center Parcs and, if we perform to our best, it should be good enough."We're an improving pair who only got together in 2008 so, if we can keep stepping up a level in every competition, then we're capable of challenging the top pairs in the world. Once you get into the top 10 you play the best more frequently."When I play in the men's doubles with Anthony Clark, we're both 33 and have the experience and the quality and our main concern is to stay injury free. With Jenny, the challenge is very different – she's 23 and improving all the time. I had a lot of success with Gail [Emms] and when she retired [after the 2008 Olympics] I took on a new challenge with a young player who isn't at the same level. My job is to use my experience to build her up so we can become as good a partnership."China are by far the dominant nation in badminton and have huge numbers of players. But it isn't impossible to win an Olympic medal; we've shown that in the past [with silver in 2004]. We can't compete with them overall but can certainly nip in and get a medal. It is about continuing to improve and performing when it matters."Key statisticsMixed doubles major honours (all with Gail Emms)Olympic silver 2004, world champion and Commonwealth Games gold 2006Olympic recordAthens 2004 silver; Beijing 2008 QF2009 world rank34th (with Wallwork)2010 world rank11th (with Wallwork)World rankings 1 Widanto/Natsir2 Gunawan/Marissa3 Mateusiak/Zieba4 Laybourn/Rytter Juhl5 Jiaming/YawenMain rivals for 2012 Too early to tell. Any of the world's top 10. Even the world No1 pair lost in the last eight at last month's world championshipBiographyBorn 30 May 1977 in NottinghamEducated Dayncourt comprehensive; full‑time badminton player since age of 16Favourite film Scarface or AnchormanFavourite book Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open. He was one of my sporting heroes growing up and learning the back story behind what you saw out on court was the best thing about the bookFavourite band I don't have one, I'm more into R&BOutside badminton I ... play golf and spend time with my 12-year-old daughter; and I'm into online scrabbleWhat would you have done if badminton hadn't worked out? It would have had to be something else within sport. Become a Formula One driver?Training"We don't have an off- and on‑season – it's a 12-month period where we work towards major events. We'll have a training block of eight to 12 weeks beforehand, split into three sections where we start with heavy weights, then strength building and by the time we're close to the event it's about speed. We also do long, hard sessions on the court."Olympic countdown26-31 Oct 2010Super Series – Denmark Open Odense, Denmark2-7 Nov 2010Super Series – French Open Paris, France18-23 Jan 2011Super Series – Malaysia Open KL, Malaysia8-13 Mar 2011All England Premier Super Series 2011 Birmingham, England22-29 May 2011Sudirman Cup Qing Dao, China21-26 Jun 2011Super Series – Indonesia Open Jakarta, Indonesia8-14 Aug 2011World Championship London, EnglandJan 2012 onwardsSchedule still to be confirmedIn numbers2 Medals Great Britain has won in Olympic competition since badminton's entrance in 19928 Badminton medals China won at Beijing 2008 – more than the next three nations in the table combined206 Official badminton smash world record, in miles per hour, recorded by doubles player Fu Haifeng in 2005Center Parcs is the official partner of Badminton England. Visit www.centerparcs.co.ukBadmintonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Mickelson says McIlroy-Woods spat overblown By DOUG FERGUSON 2010-09-29T14:52:51ZNEWPORT, Wales (AP) -- Phil Mickelson came to the defense of Rory McIlroy on Wednesday, calling him one of the classiest players in golf and his desire to play Tiger Woods is the goal of every player who wants to beat the best.... hosted.ap.org |
Robert Kitson: Time to praise Pacific Islanders The Pacific Islanders' impact on the club game leaves us in no doubt which is the greatest rugby region of allEuropean rugby has become so used to their unsung presence that, sometimes, it takes them for granted. No self-respecting team is without one, to the point where you wonder why the International Rugby Board bothers holding a World Cup to identify the sport's most prodigiously talented region. I refer, of course, to the magnificent men of the Pacific Islands, whose impact grows ever more pronounced with each Heineken Cup season.Take last weekend, for example. No one in Reading could fail to notice the hard-tackling shaggy blur that is Seilala Mapusua, with Elvis Seveali'i, Sailosi Tagicakibau, George Stowers and Chris Hala'ufia also contributing fully to London Irish's win over Munster. Cencus Johnston was the man of the match for Toulouse in their win over Wasps, for whom David Lemi scored a super-sharp try. A thunderous charge from Alesana Tuilagi saved Leicester from Italian oblivion against Treviso while the broad-smiling Napolioni Nalaga registered the crucial try for Clermont. Did you see Joe Tekori rampaging around for Castres on Friday night? Perhaps you were simply following the irresistible, immovable object that is Soane Tonga'uiha.Little wonder Toulouse have just signed Rupeni Caucaunibuca, despite considerable evidence he is not quite the spectacular matchwinner he used to be. Leicester are even rearing yet another Tuilagi in the form of 19-year-old Manu, a young man who already weighs close to 17st but, according to his Tigers colleagues, is the most disciplined member of the world's most imposing rugby family. "If I was a member of the opposition I know which one of us I'd run at," says the self-deprecating Dan Hipkiss, Tuilagi's fellow midfielder. Even if Samoa have just lost to England in the Commonwealth Games quarter-finals they are already the reigning Sevens world champions. And so on and so on ...It makes you think, doesn't it? Fair play to the International Rugby Board for its recent funding initiatives but what would happen if Samoa – population 179,000 – had the same preparation time as England? What if more island players represented the country of their birth rather than looking abroad for economic or family reasons? What if – and this is the real biggie – teams such as England stopped off in Apia en route to Australia or New Zealand? New Zealand have still never played a Test match there; imagine the local interest it would generate if the All Blacks were to break the habit of all our lifetimes.Financial imperatives, inevitably, are used to beat such romantic notions into submission. There is, in fairness, nothing remotely romantic about trying to tackle Tuilagi and co on a rock-hard field a long way away from your favoured local orthopaedic surgeon. But when you see Mapusua off-loading sweetly and tackling like a human wrecking-ball, or Tagicakibau cruising into yet more cleverly conceived space you can only conclude international rugby is the poorer for the inequality of the arrangements. Some of the big hits can stray the wrong side of brutal but take away its South Sea bubbles and this season's Heineken Cup would be significantly flatter.Blurred visionGood evening and welcome to ITV, the latest broadcaster to pay for a slice of the Heineken Cup action alongside Sky Sports, France Televisions, Canal+, Sky Italia, S4C and RTE. You may have spotted the glaring omission from the list. True, the BBC still has the Six Nations and some autumn international action but the corporation's oval-ball portfolio will soon shrink to the point of invisibility. It has failed to secure either the TV or radio rights for next year's World Cup in New Zealand and the meagre coverage of rugby union on 5 Live on the average Saturday afternoon is a persistent irritation. You can argue all you like about satellite and digital broadcasters not reaching a mass audience but at least they feign a genuine interest in the sport.Centre stageWorth watching this week ... Regan King (Scarlets). By now you will have probably seen this season's most spectacular try to date, scored by the Scarlets against Perpignan at the weekend. As so often, the splendid King was at the heart of it, supplying one of two successive back-door passes that elevated the move far above normal midfield orthodoxy. King and co go to Leicester on Sunday; it is an ideal chance for the Kiwi to show that he remains among the classiest centres operating in Europe.Heineken CupSamoa rugby union teamRugby unionRobert Kitsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Titans rout Jaguars 30-3; QBs Young, Garrard leave with injuries Both teams lost their starting quarterbacks early. Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans left with a knee sprain that initially worried him enough ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
United star gets South Korea going with a win SOUTH KOREA, who previously had won just a single World Cup finals game away from home, this time romped through in a canter. Their two goals could have been doubled or even trebled and it was highly appropriate that the second of them, early in the second half, should go to the Manchester United attacker, Park Ji-Sung. timesonline.co.uk |