London: England’s current and former players posted messages on their social media accounts, criticizing Badminton England for a lack of transparency concerning their selection of players representing Great Britain (GB) in the Tokyo Olympics.
Players were dissatisfied as it seemed unfair and appeared to be obvious age discrimination when Badminton England left off the older pair – World No. 11 and the Rio Olympic bronze medalists Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge from the GB Olympic Team, in favor of the younger pair – World No. 18 Ben Lane/Sean Vendy.
Shortly after the announcement of the list of players representing Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, British mixed doubles player Lauren Smith expressed her feelings in a post on her Instagram account with message below:
“Please Read:
I should be putting up a post about how happy I am to have been selected for my second Olympic Games.
Sadly I instead need to address the frustration I have felt, especially during my Olympic preparation but also building across the last 5 years.
For obvious reasons, related to selection, it has been a bumpy few weeks. Despite it being a controversial decision, there has been no support offered to myself or other athletes to deal with this and prevent the negative effect it has had on my Olympic preparation.
Unfortunately, this didn’t really come as a surprise as over the past few years it’s felt more and more like the players’ wellbeing and happiness in the environment is not valued.
Players have lost their voice under a domineering coach-centered system.
I absolutely love being able to play Badminton for a living and always enjoyed training. But the last few weeks I have dreaded having to go in the hall with some of the coaches I no longer believe want the best for me as a player and whom I know to be biased.
I never speak out so controversially, but the handling of things in the past few weeks has been appalling, athletes deserve to feel valued and to have their mental wellbeing considered. If things continue as they are I fear for the future of top-level Badminton in England.
”
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In addition to Smith, England’s former women’s doubles and mixed doubles specialist – Jenny Wallwork, who once reached World No. 5 together with mixed double partner Nathan Robertson, didn’t hold back in criticizing Badminton England in her Instagram post with the message below:
“Shame On you Badminton England
A pinnacle moment of every athlete’s career is being selected for an Olympic Games and getting the opportunity to live their dreams and go after a medal they have worked tirelessly for. A time in life where athletes realise their blood, sweat, and tears have all been worth it and they have the chance to show themselves and the world what they can do.
On Monday Badminton England announced their Team GB lineup. Heartbreakingly it seems 8 years after retiring due to a complete lack of athlete care, silencing players, and their opinions on their own careers it’s come to light that absolutely nothing has changed. Yet the people in power remain the same, and more alarmingly have been promoted.
I have friends going out to compete at the Olympic Games who have spent years of their life working towards this moment for it to be completely overshadowed by egotistical members of staff and a fame-hungry head coach. Their selection has been tarnished by a complete lack of care and empathy towards the players.
For anyone that isn’t up to date with Badminton, Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis are current Olympic bronze medalists, Commonwealth champions, European games gold medalists and are currently ranked Number 1 in the UK and number 11 in the world.
Regardless of these results, they have been de-selected to represent Team GB. This has never previously happened to a pair in the history of GB Olympics. After an appeal which the players won as a result of the criteria not being followed and a possibility of bias being shown, the same panel was then chosen to make a final decision. How can this possibly be fair?
The secondary pair ranked number 2 in UK and number 18 in the world have been selected.
”
Wallwork also said that the 36-year-old Langridge made a big decision to continue his career in badminton after winning bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The decision was made with the hope of competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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Wallwork was also concerned that the unhealthy situation in Badminton England could affect the mental health of the players, which would certainly have a negative impact on the future of badminton in England.
