Badminton : Baddeley bans elite players

Nathan Robertson and Ian Sullivan, two of England's most promising players, have been severely reprimanded and suspended from the national training squad by Steve Baddeley, England's Director of lite Play who is concerned about late nights, drinking and absence from squad sessions.

"We can't achieve without 100 per cent commitment in competition, training, attitude and lifestyle," Baddeley said.

Robertson, 19, a full England international, has been omitted from the elite squad "indefinitely" and had his funding stopped. Sullivan, an under-21 international, also 19, has been dropped for February and had his funding withheld for March.