Wednesday 21 January 2015 14:35, UK
Olympic silver medallist Gail Emms will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of topping the world rankings by playing in the English Championships in Crawley later this month.
The event is taking place at the K2 in Crawley and former world champion Emms, who already has 12 national titles to her name, will return to contest the mixed doubles a decade after becoming the world No 1.
Commonwealth Games gold medal winners and current world No 6 pair, Chris and Gabby Adcock are among the other big names who will be heading to Sussex.
Emms, who last won the mixed doubles national title nine years ago alongside Nathan Robertson, will play with Cheshire’s rising star Matthew Nottingham, the 2011 European junior champion.
She said: “This year is a big milestone for me personally as I celebrate the 10 year anniversary of becoming world number one as well as some big achievements on the international scene, such as winning the YONEX All England title.
“I want the badminton community to come out and support our top players again. Glasgow 2014 was a great success for English badminton and a lot of those stars will be on show at the K2. It’s a great intimate venue and really goes back to the roots of the Nationals.”
After a five-year break from competitive top class badminton, Emms briefly came out of retirement to compete at last year’s Championships, reaching the quarter-finals in both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
