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XD:
[1] Clark & Kellogg
bt Langridge & Bok
21/10, 21/19 (37m)
Hello and goodbye to the surprise packet
by Richard Eaton
It was only the fourth tournament together for Chris Langridge
and Sarah Bok , and they produced the upset of the week to reach
the national mixed doubles final – but now they are saying it
will be their last.
That's because two surprise packets produced another big
surprise, and did so after losing 21-10, 21-19 to the defending
champions Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg, announcing to the
crowd that they were going to split.
“Actually this is our last tournament together,” said Langridge
who had been stunning in the final stages of the three-game
thriller against the second-seeded Nathan Robertson and Jenny
Wallwork in the semi-finals.
“It's only our fourth, but we had a difficult time and had
injuries and we have decided to give it a break. It's good to
finish on a good-er-ish result.
“It would have been nice to take Clarky down but there is
another year, hopefully.”
Bok seemed a little more subdued, certainly compared with the
joy she and Wallwork expressed the night before in reaching the
women's doubles final.
“I'm quite pleased with the week,” she said, referring to her
mostly very solid mixed doubles performances. We played better
than for a while. I have been injured for a while.
“We looked at at the results earlier and we have both been on
court for what feels like a whole day.”
Bok nevertheless felt her first game performance had been “a bit
ropey.” They were of course up against the European champions
who were quick-witted, deft, and awkward to read in the fast,
flat, mid-court exchanges, and who combined Clark's dynamic
smashing with Kellogg's dangerous reach at the net when they
were on full-bore attacking mode.
Immediately after the first game interval, when Bok made a good
interception which made a winner which took the unseeded pair to
9-11, all looked well.
 But
from 14-10 Clark went on a tremendous unbroken run on his serve,
getting the shuttle in low and tight and following up with a
whole variety of attacks, usually with accurate smashes but
twice setting up Kellogg at the net.
The game ended with Bok jabbing an irritated looking return of
serve into the net – but she and Langridge played much better in
the second.
They led 12-10, 15-14 and 16-15, staying in the flat exchanges
better, defending resolutely, and Langridge being able to get
the first good attack into the rally a little more often.
But it was their first national final, whereas Clark and Kellogg
had done this sort of thing many times before – and in the
crucial last few points it showed.
The champions nosed in front at 17-16 when Clark's punched clear
dropped in, with Langridge thinking it might go long, and then
inched ahead again at 19-18 when Clark delivered a very
deceptive pushed return of serve winner. They champions reached
match point after another fast flat rally.
The final rally was one of the best of the match, with defence
turning into attack and back again, and the match finishing with
a canny flick lift from Kellogg which Bok went for, but could
only touch and not return.
“We were a bit lucky to sneak that second game,” said Clark
generously. “These players are not far from being the best
players in the world. They have had a great week. They just have
to make the next level.”
But, for the time being at least, it seems they won't be making
it together.. |
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WS:
[2] Jill Pittard bt [1]
Elizabeth Cann
21/19, 14/21, 27/25 (57m)
Equal prize money
won by a part-timer
Richard Eaton
Jill Pittard, a part-timer who was dropped last summer from the
national squads, became the first woman to earn a first prize
equal with the men's singles at the English national
championships when she saved two tremendous match points to
upset the defending champion Elizabeth Cann.
Her 21-19, 14-21, 27-25 win had a sweatily improbable finish and
was loaded with all sorts of ironies. Pittard's £1,200 prize is
part of a continuing professionalizing of badminton and yet here
she was, somehow fitting competition around her career as a
calibration engineer, in many ways operating an old-style
amateur.
She was separated from the facilities at the finest national
centre in Europe, and now she was saying that this worked in her
favour. “I think I've ended up with more individual attention,”
she smiled, referring to the help she had from Mike Adams and
Lorraine Cole.
And there was nothing amateurish about her attitude. “I think
they left me out of the squads last summer because of my age,”
the 31-year-old said. “It just made me more determined to win
this.”
Pittard needed all of that quality, as well as every ounce of
her skill and resolution during a catfight of a finish, in which
the standard of play escalated thrillingly. Cann found herself
20-17 down and saved fully six match points with some desperate
defence and heroic court coverage.
 When
Cann eventually got to within one good blow of her fourth title,
at 24-25, Pittard looked as though she were a goner. It was one
of the few rallies in the closing stages in which she found
herself mostly on the defensive.
But she turned it suddenly with one drive from deep in the
forehand corner. It immediately transformed her position into
something much stronger, and she capitalised with a superbly
disguised net shot which went for a wrong-footing winner.
She won it on her seventh match point after a rally of
searching, probing clears from both women, corner to corner, in
which Pittard was at last able to punch one a little harder and
more accurately into Cann's forehand corner, from whence there
could be little response. At the last split second let it fall
and hoped. But it was snugly in.
Pittard went straight into the crowd to hug her mum and her
supporters from Warwickshire; then came back and greeted the
praising questions with breathy modesty. “I made hard work of
it, I don't know how many match points I had and I think she had
one or two,” Pittard said, still panting a bit. “To win is
unbelievable but I did make hard work of it.”
 She was
encouraged to continue. “I am lost for words to be honest,” she
said, and then disproved herself. “It was a really hard fought
game, and on the match points she played really well. And didn't
give me anything. It was a real hard slog.
“But fair do's she's won it many times; I won't win it as many
times as her. It will probably be my only time. But I have won
it at last.”
It prompted questions as to how long she would go on, and was
she even considering retirement. She said she didn't know, but
didn't deny that she might not go on a lot longer.
Much of the rest of the match had been rather patchy, Pittard
sometimes tying Cann up at the net well, to set up chances for
steep attacks, and Cann putting together some good combinations
of strokes.
But Pittard had a mistake-prone second game, and in the third,
when Cann seemed likely to push on to success, she faltered
surprisingly, perhaps because she grew tense.
“I was struggling to get a length,” she said. “and that allowed
her to attack me, which she did well.”
It left the feeling that, even at 29, Cann has potential which
remains unfulfilled. And it underlined the blow which the recent
retirement of Commonwealth champion Tracey Hallam has been to
the English game. Women's singles is in danger of becoming a
problem event.
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MS:
[1] Rajiv Ouseph bt [2] Carl
Baxter
21/16, 21/15 (32m)
Raj becomes king again
Richard Eaton
Rajiv Ouseph is beginning to look a much more confident young
man. He has taken two international titles, risen into the
world's top 50, and now defended the English national title with
as smooth and velvety a performance as a man who has won it many
times before.
Instead his 21-16, 21-15 success over his sparring partner Carl
Baxter is only his second. At the age of 22 he can hope for many
more, though before very long such things may become secondary
to trying to ensure he can qualify for London 2012.
 It
was relatively level pegging both games until the coaching break
at 11, and each time after that Ouseph pulled steadily away,
leaving Baxter so irritated that at one stage the challenger got
a code of conduct warning for stamping on the shuttle.
“Winning last year was very good, but I think retaining it is
very difficult,” Ouseph said. “There was really a bit more
pressure on me. There was pressure on me to win and I came
through it.
Asked about his association with coach Aamir Ghaffar, the player
he beat in last year's final, Ouseph said: “It looks like it's
working well. He's known me a long time and he knows what I
need.”
The point with which he reached 17-11 was typical of his
elegant, authoritative formula. Flick lift to one corner, flick
lift to the other corner, and, when the shuttle is returned to
the net, a tight net shot to elicit a defensive lift from his
opponent. That was despatched with regal calm with a
round-the-head angled drop.
Ouseph went from 11-10 to 16-10 in a sequence which had Baxter,
who recently overtook his compatriot in the world rankings,
grunting and growling with displeasure. And Ouseph finished the
match with one of its best rallies, containing a brilliant
reaction block, some fast mid-court jabs, and a sudden smash
winner.
Baxter, a Canada-raised player who obtained his British passport
only a short time ago and only recently qualified for the
tournament, was as disappointed as if he had been wanting to win
the English national title all his life.
“It was a bit frustrating,” he said tersely. “I didn't play at
my best,” he said “But Raj played well.”
He moves very well, and his game is clearly improving, so his
time may yet come. Ouseph, meanwhile, may be nearly ready for
greater things. |
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WD:
[1] Kellogg & Rayappan
bt
[2] Wallwork & White
21/14, 14/21, 25/23
Kellogg doubles
up again
Richard Eaton
It's hard to believe that Donna Kellogg isn't sure how long she
will continue when she is playing so well. She won her fourth
mixed doubles title in a row, her fifth successive women's
doubles title, and her eleventh national title altogether – and
she has never been more versatile or reliable.
It required the former world silver medallist to do what she
does best – raise her game when it matters. And there were
moments in both her finals when that became crucial.
In the second game of the mixed doubles in which she and Anthony
Clark won 21-10, 21-19 against Chris Langridge and Sarah Bok
there were moments when it seemed the younger pair might sneak
the match into a decider.
Given that Kellogg was being required to play six matches in two
days it was important to prevent that happening; the final point
in which Kellogg's flick lift went just out of Bok's reach was
evidence of her fine-tuned instinct for doing the right thing.
“We didn't play as well as we can,” she admitted.“ but it's a
massive achievement to come here and win national titles.
There's all the anxiety and a little bit of pressure. It's
something I have dealt with over the years, and I have learnt
how to deal with it.
“I don't have a massage at this tournament because it doesn't
have any of the English physios.
“But you get out there and warm up. You get on and off as
quickly as possible, and then put your feet up. You need to make
sure you eat and drink at the right times. And make sure you
drink enough.”
However it was the women's doubles which provided the greater
threat and some tremendous drama. Kellogg and Suzanne Rayappan
had to survive two match points to beat Jenny Wallwork and Gabby
White 21-14,15-21, 25-23 - and they had some unusual help in
doing it.
 Having
saved two match points, they earned two of their own at 21-20
and 22-21. On the second Wallwork served out, and on the first
White was fault served for the sixth time in the match. It
brought loud booing, a slow handclap, and a lengthy delay during
which White slung her racket fiercely under the net in disgust
and was admonished by the umpire.
“It didn't affect us too much, but it's something Gabby has to
work on,” Kellogg said. “It isn't nice when you get faulted, and
it probably affected Gabby's confidence But they played great
and are good prospects for 2012.
“Jenny and Gabby are the next up-and-coming pair, and are
fantastic prospects for English badminton.”
Kellogg dragged her game up to a new level during those hectic
final minutes, in which she and Rayappan saw three match points
of their own slip away before Kellogg ended it with a sharp-eyed
smash-kill combination.
Rayappan, who may have felt the pressure more than anyone near
the end but held up well, said:”It's great playing with Donna.
She's a class act. I have enjoyed every moment. I have learned a
lot and it's an honour playing with her.”
Kellogg looked as pleased as if she had won a major on the world
tour. “We haven't really practised together. So to come and win
a final like that is terrific,” she said.
Was she tired after all that? “The adrenaline gets you through.
You don't feel anything while it's happening,” she said. But
this evening I might collapse.” |
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MD:
[1] Clark & Robertson
bt
[2] Adcock & Blair
21/13, 21/11 (34m)
Clark equals his hero's record
Richard Eaton
Anthony Clark equalled Simon Archer's record of eight national
men's doubles title in a row when he and Nathan Robertson
overcame Robert Blair and Chris Adcock with more to spare than
seemed likely, by 21-13, 21-11.
It was a supreme display of cleverly paced, well conceived
tactics by the former European silver medallists who have never
looked better than they do now. But it was still a surprise that
they were able to do it.
Clark had had to play four times on Saturday and twice on finals
day, without ever feeling all that great. And Robertson was so
unwell he nearly did not make it on to court.
“I knew Nathan was felling horrific, and he told me I needed to
try and pull him through this one,” Clark said. “I said, okay
let's play as slow as possible and hope it works - and it did.
“There was a time last night when I thought he wouldn't be able
to keep going through it because of throat noises which were
coming from him.
“It shows how much we want it. We might have had to pull out. We
thought 'should we pull out?' Or should we try? So what happens
– we always have a go.
And we bring something different to the table. Because we are
playing in a different way (to other pairs) we don't have to
play so fast.”
Their only moments of difficulty were right at the beginning.
Clark and Robertson hardly bothered with a knock-up – presumably
on the grounds that they hadn't the energy to spare – and were
soon five points behind.
But they had levelled things by 7-7, and with their run through
from 11-8 to 14-8 they began to break the back of their
opponent's resistance. They may have been aided by Adcock's
shoulder injury, which makes him a doubt for the European team
championships.
The mixed doubles, in which Clark and Kellogg were not far from
having to go to three games with Chris Langridge and Sarah Bok
in a 21-10, 21-19 victory, was less impressive.
 “I
felt a little bit disappointed with the way I played in that in
the morning but sometimes your opponents don't allow you to.
“A little quality play in the second set brought us home. That's
what happens when you play a lot of tournaments. Top players win
time and time again when it matters.”
And equalling Simon Archer's record? “I tried not to think about
that coming into this weekend,” Clark said. “I used to look up
to Simon, and to equal that is fantastic. It shows what hard
work we put in now.
“But playing with Nathan is so relaxing. We have been best
friends for such a long time now, and that really helped,” he
added. You sense he thinks, even at the age of 31, that this
partnership's best days are still to come. |
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