Badminton in Scotland received a timely and welcome boost at the weekend.
Imogen Bankier, alongside English partner Chris Adcock, produced an extraordinary string of performances at the World Championships in London which culminated in them winning a remarkable silver medal in the mixed doubles on Sunday. The final hurdle of top seeds and world No.1 pair, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yumiei, may have been one step too far, but the world-class performances displayed by the British pair over the week could prove an invaluable stepping stone in the race for qualification for the Olympics next year, and ultimately the quest for a medal.
The Olympic qualifying period for badminton is one year long, ending in May next year. The battle for a mixed doubles spot is a three-horse race which, along with Bankier and Adcock, also includes Nathan Robertson, former World Champion and Olympic silver medallist, partnering Jenny Wallwork, and Robert Blair who has recently defected back to representing Scotland after a spell playing under the English flag, alongside Gabby White. At the start of the campaign Bankier and Adcock were perhaps considered an outside bet for a qualification spot – not any more.
The GB system has not been universally beneficial to Scottish players but, for Bankier, it has been a revelation. She has been able to fulfil her potential with English partners which she was unable to do with a Scottish partner. She first entered the world’s top ten with Blair and is now proving herself on the world stage with Adcock, whom she only teamed up with in September last year. Her union with Adcock had shown glimpses of world-class performances in the previous 11 months, but nothing compared to the level they displayed last week. It is, perhaps, a perfect illustration of how valuable an asset confidence is – Bankier and Adcock’s belief grew as the week went on as they defeated the 8th, 15th, 4th and then 2nd seeds during the course of the tournament.
Bankier’s historic silver medal is, as with every athlete who wins a medal on the world stage, the result of a combination of talent and hard work. She is no stranger to injury – a couple of years ago she suffered a serious knee injury which side-lined her for several months and she has had numerous injections to keep her body together. Her knee still prevents her from training as she did before the injury but, perversely, it is her physical limitations that have been the making of her. Her focus in training is now firmly on quality rather than quantity, and it was this change in mentality which has propelled her to her current status as one of the top mixed doubles women in the world.
It is virtually impossible for Europeans to compete with the physicality of the Asians, so therefore, they must find another route to beat them. Great Britain has a distinguished pedigree in mixed doubles, it the event in which there has been by far the most success in recent years, and this is perhaps due to the elevated importance of tactical expertise in comparison to the other disciplines. Europeans have consistently managed to break the dominance of the Asians due to their different style of play, and Bankier and Adcock demonstrated this perfectly over the last week.
As with any success, Bankier did not do it alone, and Scotland should be proud of the part the excellent system up north has played in her development before she relocated to the English Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes. It would be nice to think this could encourage a host of youngsters to take up the sport in Scotland. For Bankier, the events of last week may not guarantee an Olympic spot, but she has put herself firmly in the frame.
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