Badminton: England recover from setback

ENGLAND'S hopes of getting both teams through to the finals of the world team championships suffered a temporary but surprising setback when the triple Commonwealth champion, Fiona Smith, was beaten 6-11, 1-3, 11-6, by the New Zealand champion, Rhona Robertson, in the opening contest of the second women's match in Glasgow yesterday. Later England recovered to win the match 4-1, writes James Leigh.

England's women won their first match 5-0 against Iceland, and the men began with equal comfort against Poland. But later the women were unable to risk the national champion, Suzanne Louis-Lane, who has a shoulder injury, for the match against the Kiwis, which was less than 24 hours before the meeting with the Netherlands which may decide whether England are one of the three countries to qualify for the Uber Cup finals in Jakarta in May.

With the England No 1, Joanne Muggeridge, already injured it forced Smith, now a part-time player, to move up to the top position. After her loss, however, Alison Humby brought England back to 1-1 with a coolly taken 11-6, 11-0 win against Sheree Jefferson. Then Sarah Hore won 3-11, 12-9, 11-6 against Amanda Carter.