March 20. TheStar ENGLAND will be banking on their women, led by Gail Emms and Tracey Hallam, to stop Malaysia from winning the mixed team badminton title. Top seeds Malaysia and defending champions England reached the mixed team final yesterday in contrasting fashion at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. Malaysia defeated New Zealand 3-1 in the semi-finals while England were kept longer on the court for a 3-2 win over gritty India. The Indians had, in the quarter-finals, pulled off an upset 3-1 win over Group C champions Singapore. Except for the men’s singles, Emms said that England would be out to challenge for points in every other match. “But certainly, the hope is on us (the women) to deliver. If all of us play to our best, we have a great chance to retain the title,” said Emms. Emms will play two matches – the mixed doubles, partnering Nathan Robertson, and the women doubles, pairing up with Donna Kellogg. “I won both these events at the last Games (in Manchester four years ago) and I hope to contribute two points tomorrow,” she said. In the mixed doubles, Emms-Robertson are expected to take on Wong Choong Hann-Ooi Sock Ai while in the women’s doubles, Emms-Kellogg will be up against Manila SEA Games champions Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui. The mixed doubles will be a breeze for Emms-Robertson, who were the silver medallists at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In the women’s singles match, England will also be counting on Hallam to deliver the first point against Wong Mew Choo. In their last meeting at the Hong Kong Open, Mew Choo defeated Hallam in rubber games. “Malaysia are the favourites here but we certainly intend to win the gold again. The team spirit is very high and we look forward to a good showing,” said Emms. Malaysians are certainly superior in the men’s matches. World number two Lee Chong Wei should win his match against Pakistan-born Aamir Ghaffar. Based on a lacklustre performances of Anthony Clark-Robert Blair in their 21-19, 21-9 win over Rupesh Kumar-Thomas Sanave of India yesterday, Malaysia’s Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat should not face any problems in winning a point against the English pair. Chief coach Yap Kim Hock said: “We will throw in the towel in the mixed doubles. But we are determined to win points from the other matches.” The team are hoping to win more than three gold medals for the first time in the history of Commonwealth Games badminton.
