Team Leader: Andy Wood.
GB and England Head Coach: Ian Wright
Coaches: Julian Robertson, Yvette Yun Luo
Andrew Smith
County: Hampshire
Born: June 3, 1984 in Portsmouth.
England caps 23.
World ranking (at end of year-long qualifying period on May 1) 31.
Best win: Yonex Vietnam Open, November 2006.
Olympic debut.
Andrew qualified for his first Olympic Games by finishing 31st in the world rankings during the year-long qualifying period. He held off a strong challenge from Welshman Richard Vaughan, especially in the closing month of qualifying when the Portsmouth player reached the semi-final of the Indian Open in Hyderabad and the final of the Atwater Canadian International in Montreal. In between he helped England to the silver medal in the team event at the European Championships as he found the form which has taken him as high as world No 15. Eleven months earlier, along with the other five Olympic squad members, he helped England claim a first ever medal, a bronze, in the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in Glasgow. Coached by Dave Hunt.
Tracey Hallam
County: Staffordshire.
Born: March 24, 1975 in Burton on Trent.
England caps 81.
World ranking 14.
Best win: Chinese Taipei Open, November 2005.
Previous Olympic Games:
Athens 2004 (Quarter-finalist, losing to eventual silver medallist Mia Audina).
Commonwealth and two-time English National champion, Tracey will compete in her second Olympic Games, having been a quarter-finalist at Athens in 2004 as well as a quarter-finalist at the World Championships In 2005, 2006 and 2007. The left-hander from Burton-on-Trent came back from a nine-month absence following an ankle operation after the 2006 World Championships in Madrid to reclaim her place in the world’s top 16. Member of last month’s European silver medal winning team. Coached by Yvette Yun Luo and former England international Steve Butler.
Gail Emms
County: Hertfordshire.
Born: July 23, 1977 Hitchin.
England caps 68
Previous Olympic Games:
Athens 2004 (Silver medallist in the Mixed Doubles, with Nathan Robertson, after losing the Olympic final to Zhang Jun & Gao Ling of China 15-1 12-15 15-12. Also made the last 16 of the Women’s Doubles, with Donna Kellogg)
AND
Donna Kellogg
County: Derbyshire.
Born: January 20, 1978 in Derby.
England caps: 78.
Previous Olympic Games:
Sydney 2000 (Quarter-finalist in the Women’s Doubles, with Joanne Goode - Goode went on to win Britain’s first Olympic Badminton medal, a Mixed Doubles bronze with Simon Archer - and lost in the last 32 of the mixed with Chris Hunt)
Athens 2004 (Last 16 of the Women’s Doubles, with Gail Emms)
World ranking 6.
Best win: European champions April, 2006.
England’s No 1 women’s doubles pair, they were European champions in 2006 and silver medallists in April 2008. Key members of the team that won European team silver in April 2008. Donna was also European champion with Jo Goode in 2000. Four times English National champions together, both having won the title six times (Donna won this year with Tracey Hallam when Gail was unwell). This will be Donna’s third Olympic Games and Gail’s second. The pair are coached by Andy Wood and Julian Robertson.
Mixed doubles
Nathan Robertson
County: Nottinghamshire.
Born: May 30, 1977 in Nottingham.
England caps: 91
Previous Olympic Games:
Sydney 2000 (Quarter-finalist in the Men’s Doubles with Simon Archer - lost 15-13 15-10 to gold medallists Wijaya and Gunawan of Indonesia)
Athens 2004 (Silver medallist in the Mixed Doubles, with Gail Emms, after losing the Olympic final to Zhang Jun & Gao Ling of China 15-1 12-15 15-12. Also made the last 16 of the Men's Doubles, with Anthony Clark)
AND
Emms
England caps 66;
World ranking 6.
Best win: World Champions in Madrid, September 2006.
Olympic silver medallists in Athens in 2004 and World Champions in Madrid in 2006. They are England’s Commonwealth and former European champions and have been English National champions four times together (Emms six times in total). This will be Robertson’s third Olympic Games, having also competed in Sydney 2000. Back-to-back Yonex All England and Swiss Open winners in 2005, the former world No 1s were runners-up at the 2006 All England. China Open and Swiss Open winners in 2006. Bronze medallists at the European Championships in April as well as helping England to the team silver.
Anthony Clark
County: Nottinghamshire.
Born: November 1, 1977 in Derby.
England caps 74.
Previous Olympic Games:
Athens 2004 (Last 16 of the Men’s Doubles, with Nathan Robertson)
AND
Kellogg
England caps 74,
World ranking 8.
Best win: Denmark Open, November 2006.
English National champions for the last two years, beating Robertson and Emms for the first time to win their first Nationals. They are the new European mixed doubles champions having won the bronze two years ago. Clark and Kellogg were silver medallists at the 2007 Yonex All England Championships and China Open and at the 2008 Swiss Open. Runners-up to Robertson and Emms at the 2006 World Championships in Madrid when Clark also won a men’s doubles silver. Clark and Kellogg have turned into a formidable pairing since Madrid, starting with a Denmark Open triumph two months later. Coached by Andy Wood, Peter Jeffrey and Julian Robertson.