FINALS:

[1] Rajiv Ouseph bt [5] Aamir Ghaffar                                                    21/15, 12/21, 21/11 (45m)
[2] Elizabeth Cann bt [1] Tracey Hallam                                                           21/15, 21/19 (36m)

Tracey Hallam & Donna Kellogg bt [2] Natalie Munt & Jo Nicholas           22/24, 21/13, 21/14 (58m)
[2] Anthony Clark & Nathan Robertson bt Richard Eidestedt & Chris Langridge  21/11, 21/12 (39m)

[2] Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg bt [4] Robin Middleton & Liza Smith               21/9, 21/7 (31m)

Finals Day Coverage
 

Finals day roundup from John Hyde

Keep reading for Richard Eaton's Roundup,
Match Summaries, Photos and Audio Interviews
 from the Velodrome ...

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Cann takes three as
Hallam hints at future

Richard Eaton on the finals

Commonwealth champion Tracey Hallam dropped an even bigger hint that she may relinquish thoughts of retirement at the Beijing Olympics after a day of mixed fortunes at the English national championships in which she failed to regain the women’s singles title but became an unexpected winner of the women’s doubles.

Hallam, the top seed and twice the former winner, lost 21-15, 21-19 to Elizabeth Cann, the defending champion, before going on to partner Donna Kellogg, the European doubles champion, to a 22-24, 21-13, 21-14 win over the second-seeded Joanne Nicholas and Natalie Munt.

“It eases the pain from earlier in the day,” said Hallam, after her doubles success. “So I’m definitely pleased. I’m disappointed that Gail isn’t here, but I hope she is back to full fitness to be with us for the Uber Cup,” she added, referring to fact that she only took part as a last moment substitute for Emms, the other half of the European women's doubles winning partnership.

“I have played doubles before, but never to this level, but hopefully this could be the start of my future,” Hallam concluded, making ears prick.

It seemed an ominous remark for a 32-year-old, even for one who had some uncertain moments in the opening game in the final and had never partnered Kellogg before.

But Hallam has skill in abundance, and probably the makings of another high quality partner for Kellogg, who may need a permanent replacement for Emms if she retires after Beijing.

“It’s brilliant for me that Tracey stepped in at the last moment,” reckoned Kellogg, who was arguably the outstanding player of the tournament. “Otherwise I would not have this title. She played brilliantly with me and I have to thank her for that. “

Hallam did not entirely agree. “I think Donna carried me through a bit today,” she said. “It was a fantastic opportunity to play with Donna - she’s a world class player. Maybe I can be in the future.”

However Hallam’s chances of two titles in one tournament and three national singles titles in total disappeared when she was beaten by Cann, a result which confirmed that recently the Middlesex-based Jersey player has improved to something like world top 20 standard.

Cann often had to work extremely hard to do it, covering the court with great speed when Hallam knocked the shuttle about skifully, and playing many of the most important points with a recently-found confidence.

That is partly the result not only of improved results, but of greater fitness from a long summer training sessions. “I knew I was in fine shape,” she said.

Never was it more evident than on the match point, when Hallam made Cann scuttle six times to distant parts, via flicks to the back corners and slices to the front, and at the seventh attempt the cumulative pressure of the shuttle constantly returning pressured Hallam into pushing it wide.

But there had been moments when it seemed the top seed’s shot-making skills might prevail. Hallam came back superbly from 4-12 down to 12-14 and then 14-16, at which stage the contest had reached a pivotal moment.

Cann responded by moving very fast and lunging very deep for a low lift from the net on the next rally, getting it back far enough to bring a reverse slice drop into the net from Hallam.

Cann closed out that game soon afterwards, and discovered that the second game had a different character – closer all the way, the advantage hanging on every point.

She was also able to make some beautifully accurate pushes to the net and many pressurizing punch clears, even though it was usually Hallam who was the more creative player.

Hallam also got ahead at 10-9 and 13-12 but because she couldn’t shake Cann off, found the pressure growing on her. This was evidenced in two or three exasperated winces from the Commonwealth champion as she made mistakes, though the match remained at a high standard till the end.

Cann did not seemed surprised to have secured her third title. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy,” she said. “But I didn’t feel pressure, because I knew she’s a good player and that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to lose to her, though at the same time I would have been disappointed if had not won.”

also saw his hopes of a third title spoilt when he was beaten by the top-seeded Rajiv Ouseph, his fellow Middlesex player who credits him with having helped his career.

Ouseph’s 21-15, 12-21, 21-11 victory was a triumph over his own self-doubt as well as an opponent who is beginning to making another surge after letting slip some of the fitness which has earned him some notable scalps.

His play contained some sudden wristy smashes as well as the deft strokes and touches which have usually characterized his play. It gave a more potent quality to his game, though there more many phases when Ghaffar was able to wrest the attacking initiative from him with fierce, flat mid-court jabs and whips and eye-catching jump smashes.

One of them pulled a three-point deficit back to 15-16 in the first game, but Ouseph accelerated away to take it with the help of two good smashes and two forecourt kills.

That tipped the odds significantly the way of Ouseph, given the doubts about Ghaffar’s capacity to go the distance, but the former champion nevertheless dominated a second game which contained one rally of such dramatic swings between defence and attack at 13-9 that a slightly somnolent audience burst into spontaneous applause.

But the start of the third saw Ghaffar go off the boil, and by the time he was 0-6 and 1-11 down his hopes had been effectively flattened. Ouseph, confidence rising again, was now playing his best badminton, and the most Ghaffar could offer was to fight bravely till the end.

“I’m very pleased because I was a little bit nervous going into it,” admitted the 21-year-old winner. “It was good to play Aamir who has helped me my whole career and I hope we can be in a winning England team in the Thomas Cup (later this month)”.

The fifth-seeded Ghaffar appeared to feel that in the circumstances he had done well. “It was a tough day,” he said. “I am getting fitter slowly and slowly.

“People thought I could not last three sets so hopefully I have dispelled that idea. I thought he would be tired but he came out fast.”

Clark takes another two

Meanwhile Kellogg and Anthony Clark both won titles for the second successive year. Kellogg had earlier won the mixed with her fellow former world silver medalist by overcoming Robin Middleton and Liza Smith 21-19, 21-7.

“Good shot”, Clark kept saying to Kellogg, who looks even more slender than she was and whose footwork and mobility appear to have improved with it. She was a constant menacing threat at the net.

Later Clark won the men’s doubles with Nathan Robertson, who looked so relaxed much of the time that one wondered if he would have enough adrenaline to carry him through it.

In fact they were rarely challenged, even though Chris Langridge and Robin Eisestedt had some good moments in the second game of a 21-11, 21-12 defeat, and looked a likely combo for the future.

Robertson and Clark had just too many variations in attack and it was easy to see how they beat the then world champions en route to the European silver medal four years ago. More than eight years ago Robertson won a world silver medal at this discipline.

So would Robertson and Clark re-form their partnership more permanently? Would they try again together after the Beijing Olympics?

“This is a partnership for the weekend,” said Robertson firmly. “And it’s done all right this weekend. “We agreed to play together a while back as we are both concentrating on mixed doubles for the Olympics. So I was the most relaxed I have been for about ten years.”

So relaxed in fact that he enjoyed his own outrageous slip of the tongue. Did it help having two such good mixed doubles pairs spurring each other on before the Olympics, he was asked, a routine suggestion with which he was in the process of agreeing.

“We need as good players as possible, and Anthony and Gail – I mean Anthony and Donna, I don’t know what Anthony and Gail are doing,” he interposed. “They are fantastic,” he concluded, managing in the process to end the tournament with laughter.

Match Summaries, as they happened ...

Earlier Jonathan Clark and Donna Kellogg had retained their mixed doubles title with a comprehensive win over Robin Middleton and Liza Smith - both aim for another title later today.

Ouseph takes his first,
two for Kellogg & Clark ...

Rajiv Ouseph denied Aamir Ghaffar his third title as the top seed took the men's final in three games. Ouseph took the first but some determined play from Ghaffar and careless errors from Ouseph saw the score levelled.

Ouseph came out firing in the third though, reaching the interval at 11/1, and that proved too big a hill for Ghaffar to climb as Ouseph took his first senior National title.

In the women's doubles Donna Kellogg and Tracey Hallam held a good lead in the first game but let it slip, losing it 22/24. The next two games were equally competitive but seconds Natalie Munt and Jo Nicholas couldn't repeat the feat in the next two games as the scratch pairing took the title.

Anthony Clark also completed his second Nationals double in a row as he took the men's doubles in straight games with partner Nathan Robertson. Their young opponents led in the early stages of both games but the experienced pairing soon pulled back and eased ahead to take both games with reasonable ease.

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Listen to the players

 


John Hyde talks to Donna & Tracey

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Listen to the players