Adcock has double dream
Chris Adcock is relishing the prospect of having two opportunities to achieve "special things" at London 2012.
By Chris Hammer
Last Updated: 24/01/12 4:29pm
Chris Adcock is relishing the prospect of having two opportunities to achieve "special things" on the badminton court at London 2012.
The Leicester-born player is firmly on track to book his place in the men's doubles alongside Andrew Ellis although it looks like being a much tighter battle in the race for Britain's mixed doubles spot.
With only the leading British pair in the world rankings per doubles event earning Olympic selection - unless two teams can reach the top eight by the time the qualifying period ends in May - every match at each event in the calendar has extra significance.
Although Adcock and Imogen Bankier claimed a surprise silver at last year's World Championships at Wembley, which was also the Olympic test event, they currently hold a slender lead in the rankings ahead of Rob Blair and Gabby White, with Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork also close in pursuit.
Adcock insists there's still plenty of time for this to change but admits he's staying calm and only focusing on his own results.
The 22-year-old said: "There are three GB teams reasonably close in the rankings although I don't think it's too tense at the moment. Obviously everyone knows if you wins through rounds, you've got a chance of moving up the rankings - it's competition but it's indirect competition as we don't often play each other at tournaments.
"But we know if each player does well in your own games then you give yourself a fighting chance.
"There is chance for the rankings to change a lot - it only takes a few wins to get closer or move clear of your rivals. But at the moment Imogen and I are in a very strong position and if we keep going how we have been then hopefully we'll be the pair that qualifies.
"It'll be very hard but we keep playing and preparing well. You can't focus on the other pairs around you - if we play well enough then we know that we can make it."
Adcock and Ellis have a considerable advantage over fellow British pair Chris Langridge and Anthony Clark in the men's doubles rankings but he doesn't view this event as a safety net should he miss out in the mixed.
Focus
He said: "Neither event is a fall back option. I concentrate on the mixed and men's doubles just as much as each other and obviously my perfect scenario is that I qualify for both and I believe I have the capability of doing that and hopefully I can.
"I just have to make sure I manage my training and preparation well but I know I'm capable of doing it in both.
"Not many people have done it in the past and the new qualification system makes it difficult to do so.
"If I thought I could only qualify for one then I'd only focus on that - but I'm focusing on them both equally because I believe I can do it.
"It's an achievement in itself just to reach the Olympics and of course once you're there, anything can happen. I'd love to qualify for both as it would mean I've a great year and I've been playing well - it would put me in good shape to do well in London.
"In the mixed doubles we reached the final at the world championships and ended up with the silver but in men's doubles we've been playing really well and have beaten the current Olympic champions.
"I don't think I favour either event over the other and I think both of my pairings are capable of succeeding in high pressure situations."
Adcock is in no doubt the home crowd will inspire the British players during the Olympics, just like it did at the World Championships.
He said: "Being a home Olympics at Wembley helps massively as we showed at the world championships.
"It just takes a good run and confidence, like we did at Wembley, and special things can happen. It would be a dream come true for me if that happens in my events.
Special
"It was the Olympic test event and everything was treated as if it was the real thing. There's no bigger tournament apart from the Olympics than the world championships so it was a brilliant taste of what's to come and amazing to achieve what we did.
"It proved we can do something special and if the crowd get behind us like they did at Wembley - which I'm sure they'll do at the Olympics - then it can really boost us. Hopefully the crowd will have the same impact on all the British players and we can all achieve something special.
"But at the moment I'm just focusing on qualifying because it is so hard to get to an Olympics. Obviously we'll have quite a lot of time from May to plan what's going to happen but until then we just have to take each game as it comes."