Badmintain in England

England bagged two medals in badminton as Tom Wolfenden and Ryan McCarthy took silver in the men’s doubles after losing to Heg Nelson and Ee Yi Teo in a close and tense final, while flag bearer Rhys Walker finished the Games in flying form taking bronze in an all-England play-off against Wolfenden.

Wolfenden, in particular, had a fine game and despite the defeat was delighted to take a silver medal to round off a successful tournament. “I’m really pleased with the way I’ve played,” he said. “We couldn’t have asked for anymore. It was close in both sets and it’s great to come out with a silver. It’s more than I ever expected.”
McCarthy was also happy to take the positives from a strong performance against the top-ranked Malaysians.“We went out hard from the start and just lost a couple of tight points,” said the Hatfield student. “They’re the top pair in the world so we have to be happy to have taken them so close. Tom played great and I’m very happy to have silver.”Walker was pretty happy with his bronze too. The Nuneaton man overcame the bitter disappointment of yesterday’s semi-final defeat with a powerful two-sets victory against his close friend and team-mate in the earlier men’s singles final.
Wolfenden has been in great form all tournament, but the four-times national champion, who proudly carried the flag for England in Thursday’s opening ceremony, was determined to end the Games with a place on the podium.
“It means so much,” said Walker after his 21-14, 21-18 victory. “It’s a great reward for all the hard work and training, and it inspires you to carry on. OK, silver or gold would have been better but it’s still a bronze and lots of people would give their right arm for a bronze medal.“I came out today and really put all that frustration from yesterday behind me. I really put it right. I played well – not my best – but much better, so it’s a great way to end.
McCarthy and Emily Westwood had a difficult task in their mixed doubles bronze match against Heg and Lee Meng of Malaysia. The English pair put up some strong resistance, matching the number three seeds over some hard-fought rallies before going down 21-14, 21-10.