Olympic battle hots up

Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier: Their push for an Olympic place is still going strong.

Britain's top two mixed doubles pairs remain locked in a tight battle for an Olympic place after victories at the Yonex All England Open Championships.

Veteran Nathan Robertson with partner Jenny Wallwork could even clash with the Anglo-Scottish duo of Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier in the semi-finals in Birmingham, after both reached the last eight.

Robertson and Wallwork produced an impressive performance on Thursday evening as they saw off fifth seeds Chen Hung Ling and Cheng Wen Hsing 21-13 21-13 in just 33 minutes.

"Neither of us played to the same level as our previous match but we won ugly."
Chris Adcock Quotes of the week

It was an emphatic reply to the earlier display of Adcock and Bankier, who beat Koreans Yoo Yeon-Seong and Jang Ye-Na less convincingly, 15-21 21-19 21-19.

The pair ranked the highest in the world rankings on May 3 are likely to be selected to represent Great Britain at London 2012.

Relieved

The race is incredibly close at present, with World Championship runners-up Adcock and Bankier 17th in the latest rankings published on Friday. 2004 Athens silver medallist Robertson and Wallwork are in 19th position.

Adcock was relieved after the victory, feeling he and Bankier had fallen below the standards set in their stunning first-round triumph over top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei.

The 22-year-old said: "We are thrilled with the victory.

"Neither of us played to the same level as our previous match but we won ugly.

"I would give us two out of 10 for the performance. We did not reach the heights as we did against the number one seeds.

"We were lacking in all departments in the first game but the crowd lifted us to see us through this difficult match."

Adcock also retains hope of qualifying for the Olympics in the men's doubles, despite his challenge in that discipline in Birmingham, alongside Andy Ellis, coming to an abrupt halt.

Adcock and Ellis were unable to replicate an impressive first-round performance as they were dumped out 21-13 21-15 in 42 minutes by Korea's fifth seeds Jung Jae-Sung and Lee Yong-Dae.

Defeat

Rajiv Ouseph, Britain's top men's singles player, also saw his campaign come to an end as he failed to follow up his superb defeat of fourth seed Peter Gade.

The world number 26 from Hounslow felt his tough clash with the veteran Dane, which only began in the early hours of Thursday morning, took its toll as he was beaten 21-15 21-10 by Malaysia's Daren Liew.

Ouseph said: "I'm very disappointed with my performance.

"Because I finished late at night (on Wednesday) it affected my game (on Thursday night). I had no speed in my legs and I made a lot of unforced errors.

"My opponent took control of the game by pushing me deep into the corners and I could not react. I tried to quicken up my game but could do nothing about it."

The quarter-finals take place on Friday, with Adcock and Bankier on court first against Malaysian pair, Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh. Wallwork and Robertson follow them, facing the Indonesian duo of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir.