Speaking from Melbourne this morning, team manager Carmen Cann said: ‘We’re up against Canada, which is ranked No 2, and Singapore, who reached the final in Manchester, as well as South Africa and Mauritius.
We don’t know much about South Africa, their players rarely compete in Europe and tend to get their ranking through Asian tournaments.’ ‘We can’t do anything about the draw, we’ll just have to deal with it.’ Cann said that the usual practice at major events was for the draw to take place when all the teams were assembled at the venue.
‘It was done before we got there, but it seems the International Badminton Federation got the seedings wrong or something, probably because there were some late entries, which is why they did a re-draw.
‘They usually do the draw in front of the players and if they’d done that this time someone would have picked up on the wrong seedings.
The other teams that were in our original group also have different opponents now, Sri Lanka was one of them and they now have to face Malaysia.’ Jersey swing into action on the badminton courts at the Melbourne Conference Centre on Day One of the Games, next Thursday, against Canada, then have another match the following morning.
‘We play Canada on the Thursday evening, then Singapore the next morning which doesn’t allow much time for rest in-between,’ Cann said.
The sprung floors of the badminton courts are still being laid, though there is no suggestion that there is any problem with the timetable for completion, and other sports such as the boxing, will be going on at the same venue.
‘It’s a great location because, for once, we’re not stuck in some badminton hall in the middle of nowhere, we might get to see something of the other sports this time.’ With temperatures expected to rise over the next few days, the badminton hall will probably boast air-conditioning.
‘That’s fine if they switch it off during matches,’ Cann said, ‘but Elizabeth has said that if it’s left on it makes the shuttles go off in all directions! The Asian players are used to it because they have it on all the time, but it could cause a few problems for the other teams!’ Despite the potential toughness of Jersey’s draw, the team is in good heart and determined to do their best and enjoy the occasion.
‘We need to win three games to get through, and any team can have a bad match or pick up an injury that could change the outcome of the competition, ‘ said Cann.
