England's injured stars begin their comeback this weekend when they head for Surabaya and the Indonesian Open - the first leg of a four-event June tour of Asia. Andrew Smith, the men's singles player from Hampshire, is the only squad member who will play all four events and he is even tackling a fifth when he plays in this weekend's 4* Philippine Open in Manila (May 24-28). But Commonwealth champion Tracey Hallam misses the Indonesian Open as she is still not fully fit from her shoulder injury. Doubles star Robert Blair is a doubt for Indonesia with his shin injury. England's men's singles No 1 Aamir Ghaffar is the only senior player missing the whole tour. He has still not regained match fitness following the shoulder injury which kept him out of the Thomas Cup finals in Japan. England's head coach Ian Wright said: "Aamir is still not ready for tournament action. It will be another three or four weeks. "Tracey needs another week's training under her belt. Hopefully she will be able to play in the second event in Singapore. "Of the doubles players Robert is touch and go for Indonesia following the stress fracture to his left shin. Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms are fit again but are short of match practice. But they are top seeds in Indonesia so hopefully they can use their opening matches to sharpen up." Djarum Indonesia Open (Surabaya) 6* (May 31-June 4) Men's singles: Andrew Smith Men's doubles: Anthony Clark & Robert Blair Women's doubles: Gail Emms & Donna Kellogg Mixed doubles: Nathan Robertson & Gail Emms, Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg, Robert Blair & Natalie Munt. Coach: Andy Wood Aviva Singapore Open 5* (June 5-11) As above but adding Women's singles: Tracey Hallam Women's doubles: Natalie Munt & Joanne Nicholas Proton Malaysia Open (Kuching) 4* (June 13-18) Men's singles: Andrew Smith, Nick Kidd, Rajiv Ouseph. Women's singles: Tracey Hallam Women's doubles: Joanne Nicholas & Natalie Munt Yonex Chinese Taipei Open (Taipei) 5* (June 20-25) Men's singles: Andrew Smith, Rajiv Ouseph. Women's singles: Tracey Hallam Nick Kidd will play in the Ballarat International in Australia from June 2-4 and the North Harbour International in Auckland (June 8-11). Solenn Pastural is England's lone entry in the Estonia Kalev International in Tallinn on June 3-4. The other event taking place is Le Volant d'Or de Toulouse (June 1-4). Men's singles: Ben Beckman, Nathan Rice, Toby Honey, Andrew Ellis, Tom Dunlop. Women's singles: Julia Mann, Solenn Pasturel, Eleanor Cox, Rachel Howard. Men's doubles: Robert Adcock & Ed Foster, Andrew Ellis & Dean George, Tom Dunlop & Ben Beckman. Women's doubles: Suzanne Rayappan & Jenny Wallwork. Mixed doubles: Robert Adcock & Jenny Wallwork, Dean George & Suzanne Rayappan, Ed Foster & partner tba. http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/show_news.asp?section=000100010009&id=716&monthinview=2006/05/1
Smith goes it alone in Indonesia Philippine Open quarter-finalist Andrew Smith was England's only entry when the Djarum Indonesia Open began in earnest in Subaraya today. England's six other entries - Anthony Clark, Robert Blair, Nathan Robertson, Gail Emms. Donna Kellogg and Natalie Munt - withdrew following the earthquake in Java on the advice of the Foreign Office, who recommended they did not travel to Indonesia. Smith, the only England player to compete in the Philippines, had travelled independently. On court he won his first-round clash with Singapore's Erwin Djohan 21-17 21-15 but lost in the second round to Indonesia's Tonny Sugiarto 26-24 21-14. The next event for him and the rest of the squad will be the Aviva Singapore Open next week.
