Robertson facing six-week lay-off
NATHAN ROBERTSON is to undergo surgery tomorrow (Sat) on his troublesome ankle injury.

The 30-year-old Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist will then face up to six weeks’ recovery before entering the final countdown to the Beijing Games.

England head coach Ian Wright said today: “There are foreign bodies inside the ankle joint and it needs to be dealt with.

“Our physios will go into the operation with him to monitor things and ensure any procedure will not adversely affect his recovery time.

“Nathan has been underprepared for every tournament for the last six months. We were hoping he wouldn’t need an operation before the Olympics but the medical opinion is that it is more prudent to get it cleared up and give Nathan peace of mind. It’s just unfortunate that the recovery period cuts into our 12-week Olympic preparation programme.”


http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/show_news.asp?section=000100010034&itemID=1439&monthinview=2008/05/1

I assume this is the same ankle that got injured before 2005 WC?

Will be tough (but not impossible) to come back from this in time to be 100% by Olympics.

aww, what a bad time to have this injury..:(
hope he can recover soon:(

He has to recover fast... this is bad for England. :(

only 6 weeks training, not looking good for their chances.
clark and kellogg will have to try harder.

wow...hope he was okie...

...
I assume this is the same ankle that got injured before 2005 WC?

Will be tough (but not impossible) to come back from this in time to be 100% by Olympics.
(article content snipped for brevity)..
..That's a bad news for Nathan and his preparation for the Olympics:(. Best wishes for him and his recovery & prep for the Olympics Games.:cool:

only 6 weeks training, not looking good for their chances.


Yes and no. Although it is only 6 weeks, I　am sure he will have light training before this time.


Ｉ　Honestly don't think it will harm his chances for the following reasons:

-He is only half of the team, gail will still be at full fitness and arguably she is often credited with carrying the performance anyhow in mathematical terms if Gail is 100% fitness and Nathan Just 80%, and if they are both 50/50 in terms of weighting in the partnership, then them will perform to 90% as a pair. This should not hinder themselves too much.

-Nathan does not rely on his fitness in any case- indeed it is one of his biggest weaknesses, therefore it is not such a tradegy that his fitness will be hampered compared to say Zheng Bo, who is heavily reliant on his fitness and movement.

A hard test for England badminton team as Robertson/Emms is the best hope to bag medal in Beijing. With time limitation to recover his condition, looks like he may skip next month South East Asia SS tournament. Good luck for his surgery!

the problem with nathan is, he doesn't really try hard enough as it is.
i'm afraid the surgery will only give him another excuse.
he's gifted, but lazy, which is a shame.

from badzine.info

In a press release issued Wednesday, Badminton England reported that Athens mixed doubles silver-medallist Nathan Robertson is currently recuperating from ankle surgery this past weekend. Head Coach Ian Wright was concerned about the interruption to Nathan's Olympic training due to the surgery, which they had earlier hoped could wait until after the Beijing Games; however, doctors advised that it was "more prudent to get it cleared up and give Nathan peace of mind."

With the surgery behind him, Robertson will not be able to do any exercise for 2 weeks but the surgery was deemed successful.

“The outcome is the best we could have hoped for," Wright was quoted in the press release as saying, "but now we must now be careful not to rush things just because we are in the final 12-week phase of the Olympic countdown.”

Robertson and fellow mixed specialist Anthony Clark were not named for England's Thomas Cup team, which was announced before news surfaced of the proposed surgery.