Badminton: Women fall at last hurdle but see a silver future

By NICK BROWN

Gold medals eluded Nicole Gordon and Sara Runesten Petersen in the women's doubles yesterday, but their silvers are still the best achieved by any New Zealand badminton players at the Games.

And with the badminton team having also won a couple of bronze medals, Gordon said it should be enough to keep funding flowing from Sport and Recreation New Zealand.

"[Funding] was not our focus on the court, but it was in the back of our minds when we came here," she said.

Danish-born Runesten Petersen and Gordon were beaten in the final at the Bolton Arena by Malaysia's Lim Pek Siah and Ang Li Peng 8-7, 4-7, 7-2, 5-7, 0-7.

Although Lim and Ang were unseeded and the New Zealanders were No 3 seeds, that just reflected world ranking points from international tournaments which Lim and Ang have not contested and the New Zealanders have.

The Malaysians proved resilient on defence and deceptively powerful on attack.

Errors proved crucial, with the Malaysians found wanting early on when they were kept pinned at the back of the court. However, Gordon and Runesten Petersen made too many mistakes.

"We knew it was going to be hard work today and we gave it 100 per cent," Runesten Petersen said.

"We played the other Malaysians yesterday and that was hard work, too, even though the [straight sets] score looked differently."

At times during the match, when the New Zealanders got some scoring momentum going, they were annoyed at the delaying tactics of the Malaysians, but Gordon admitted she did the same when the Malaysians were on a good streak.

Runesten Petersen said she and Gordon lost their patience towards the end of the match, trying to end rallies too soon.

"We made a few mistakes because of that."

Gordon, 26, and Runesten Petersen, 27, have been doubles partners for just over a year.

They complement each other, with Runesten Petersen a skilful blocker near the net and Gordon a hard hitter at the back.

Previously Gordon had teamed up with younger sister Rebecca, but she has since specialised in singles for New Zealand.

Runesten Petersen, who won a European under-18 championship title for Denmark, has been living in and out of New Zealand for seven years as she gets urges to travel and play.

The Malaysian badminton women arrived unheralded in Manchester, whereas the Malaysian men share world domination of the sport with China and Indonesia - and monopolised yesterday's men's singles and doubles finals.

Runesten Petersen had already won a mixed doubles bronze medal at the Games, with Daniel Shirley, and both New Zealand women also won bronze medals as members of the New Zealand team who lost the teams' semifinal against Singapore.

- NZPA

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