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England Start Strongly in Holland
The English teams got off to a flying start at the Uber and Thomas Cups in Amsterdam with the Women achieving a 5-0 drubbing of Spain and no one would have been more excited than Gabby White. White was making her international debut and what better way to do it than by playing alongside veteran and returning hero, Gail Emms.
| White has plenty of experience through the junior ranks and is the current World Junior Mixed Doubles Silver medallist but when you consider her partner Emms is an Olympic silver medal holder and Commonwealth Gold winner, it must have been a daunting night for the young starlet but the duo wrapped up a 22 minute victory over Sandra Chirlaque and Laura Molina to finish off the mauling in Group B. The successful female Singles players for England against Spain were Elizabeth Cann, Tracey Hallam and Rachel Howard, who like White was also making her debut for the English national team. With Jenny Wallwork and Suzanne Rayappan, in for the injured Donna Kellogg, securing the remaining point that secured the whitewash victory for England, a comfortable start was celebrated by all. There is no doubt that the level of competition the English women face will intensify over the competition but a start like this will do nothing to harm the players confidence and there is every chance that this result can propel them onto greater things. Given that the female team did a great job in the Uber Cup, it is probably just as well for the English men that they also completed a successful start to the Thomas Cup where they defeated Lithuania by a score of 4-1. Unlike the girls, the English men did drop a game and the defeat came when world No. 30 Andrew Smith had a surprising defeat against the World No. 54, and the top ranked player in Lithuania, Kestutis Navickas by a score of 21-18, 21-16. No doubt Smith will be thoroughly chastised for letting his team mates and his country down but thankfully the rest of his team mates were up to the challenge meaning his reversal wasn't too damaging. We've already said how Gabby White had a terrific start to her own tournament, and she'd have been delighted to have seen her 18 year old boyfriend Chris Adcock also make a triumphant entry in the tournament as Adcock partnered Nathan Robertson as the duo ran riot against Klaudijus Kasinkis and Ramunas Stapusaitis by claiming a victory in 13 minutes with a 21-4, 21-4 demolition. If that wasn't reason enough to celebrate, this match was Robertsons 90th appearance for England and he will be focussing on reaching the century mark and if he can dispose of matches as quickly as he did then, there shouldn't be too long to wait until he does. The other Male Singles victories by the English team came from Rajiv Ouseph winning 21-10, 21-11 and Aamir Ghaffar 21-16, 21-7 with Anthony Clark and David Lindley providing the remaining Doubles victory. There may be a long way to go in the Uber and Thomas Cups but the English teams have made a sterling start in both of them. |
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