This year's YONEX All England Open will provide a return on multiple fronts for Lauren Smith. The 31-year-old is gearing up for two campaigns in Birmingham, alongside Marcus Ellis in the mixed doubles and Chloe Birch in the women's doubles. Ad Partners on and off court, the European Mixed Team Championships in mid-February marked the first time since the Commonwealth Games that Smith and Ellis had played together following Ellis' hip operation.
BadmintonYONEX All England 2023: Chloe Birch looking to shift mindset40 MINUTES AGO Having had injury struggles herself in the intervening period, Smith is more determined than ever to enjoy her time at the tournament — and on tour — this year. «One of the biggest and most exciting things for me is that Marcus is back in action,» she said. «It has been an unexpected few months with him not playing.
I tore a ligament in my ankle in October, so there has been a lot of time off injured, which isn't something either of us are particularly used to. »Touch wood, neither of us have previously experienced major injuries when we've been out for a long time, so we certainly weren't used to being at home so much and not competing. «We had it a little bit with Covid when competition was cancelled.
You don't realise how much you miss something until it's taken away from you, so we're both hungry now to get back to it and show our strong character, to go out there and really fight with people for every single point. »We're really determined to get back and find our level again, but also able to do that with a little bit less pressure because the expectation after everything is a little bit lower. «We can just go out there and hopefully play freely and really flow in the matches.
Read more on eurosport.com
eurosport.com
