Badminton: England hope for the best

ENGLAND's hopes rest heavily upon the shoulders of three former Europeans champions if they are to salvage something from the biggest badminton event ever held, the 7-Up World Championships which start today at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, writes James Leigh.

Darren Hall, in the men's singles, and Gill Clark and Gillian Gowers, in the women's doubles, will need to be at their very best if the home country is either to avoid relegation in the team competition this week or snatch a medal in the five individual events next week. England begin tonight against Denmark, whose combined squad will be tough proposition.

Indeed, the presence of Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen in the men's singles and Thomas Lund and Jon Holst-Christensen in both men's and mixed doubles makes the Danes outside candidates for the Sudirman Cup team trophy.