London: Olympic silver medallist Gail Emms insists the new National Badminton League (NBL) is the spark the sport needed to help Great Britain challenge for medals on the global stage.
The 37-year-old won mixed doubles silver with Nathan Robertson back in 2004 at the Athens Games but in the two Olympics since, Team GB have not featured on the podium.
With the current crop of talent now more than halfway through their cycle towards Rio 2016, Chris and Gabby Adcock currently represent Britain’s biggest hope of a medal according to the current rankings.
The Adcocks are ranked fifth in the world in the mixed doubles, while Adcock and Andrew Ellis are ranked 11th best in the men’s doubles.
And Emms, who has come out of retirement herself to play for Team Derby, insists the new competition, which started on Monday, will challenge everyone to raise their game.
“Anything that can help promote the sport, get new fans, new players and a bit of interest and spark is so valuable,” said Emms.
“We need more players to come through the system and push the players that are at the top and if we can do that the standard will just get better and better.
“And if we can do that, then who knows, there could be more medals in the future.”
Sportsbeat
