As the mud settles in England’s mixed staff campaign in Birmingham, our shuttlers face a quick comeback with the singles competition starting on Wednesday.
England have two players competing, and both will be able to take good confidence from a strong run which saw the team finish fourth in the mixed event.
Toby Penty will be back on court in the men’s singles and will look to go deep into the draw.
Sixth-seeded Penty will bypass the first round and go straight to the last 32.
The 29-year-old will face either Australia’s Nathan Tang or Kenya’s Sammy Sekoyo, both making their Games debuts after battling through three qualifiers to best their country’s specialisation.
Kidambi will mount a major challenge to become the first Indian to reach the men’s singles world championships in the last 12 months.
He also performed well against defending men’s singles world champion Loh Kin Yeh during the bronze medal match against England on Tuesday, 23-25, 21-11, 25-23, in one of the greatest bouts ever at the 2022 Games. the date
Penty also played some of his best badminton during a thrilling 21-19, 21-19 win over Brian Young in the quarter-finals.
In the women’s singles, English interest comes as Freya Patel-Redfern competes in her first Commonwealth Games after a 12-month run on the BWF World Tour.
He began his Team England career in the group stage of the mixed team, winning two of his three rubbers.
South Africa also won a gold medal at the 2019 African Games and is on track to break into the top 150 in the world in recent times.
Her teammate Abigail Holden was initially set to feature her in the women’s singles draw, but was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury two weeks ago.
However, every English shuttler who steps onto the court will be hoping the home support can give them a roar as they look to go deep into the draw.
