Gail Emms
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gail Emms | |
|---|---|
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| Personal information | |
| Birth name | Gail Elizabeth Emms |
| Date of birth | July 23, 1977 |
| Place of birth | Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England |
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Mixed & Women's Doubles | |
| Country |  England |
| Handedness | Right |
| Coach | Andy Wood and Julian Robertson |
| Highest Ranking | 1 (in XD) |
| Current Ranking | 6 (in XD)[1] (April 17 2008) |
| BWF Profile | |
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | |||
| Badminton | |||
| Silver | 2004 Athens | Mixed doubles | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 2006 Madrid | Mixed Doubles | |
Gail Elizabeth Emms (born July 23, 1977 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire) is an English badminton player who has achieved international success in doubles tournaments.
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[edit] Career
Her best results to date have been winning gold at the 2006 World Championships in Madrid, 2004 European Championships in Geneva, and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, partnering Nathan Robertson in the mixed doubles. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester she earned a bronze medal partnering Joanne Goode in the women's doubles and won gold as part of the England team in the mixed team event. In the English National Badminton Championships she has come first in the mixed doubles three times, and won the women's doubles twice.
[edit] Early life
A badminton player since the age of four, Emms was first chosen to represent England in 1995, and has regularly played for her country ever since. From a sporting family, her mother represented England at football in the 1971 Women's World Cup. She also attended the Dame Alice Harpur School in Bedford, an exclusive private girls' school. Gail is sponsored by badminton equipment company Carlton.
[edit] 2004 Summer Olympics
Emms competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles with partner Donna Kellogg. They defeated Koon Wai Chee and Li Wing Mui of Hong Kong in the first round but were defeated by Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili of China in the round of 16.
She also competed in mixed doubles with Robertson. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Björn Siegemund and Nicol Pitro of Germany in the second. In the quarterfinals, Emms and Robertson beat Chen Qiqiu and Zhao Tingting of China 15-8, 17-15 to advance to the semifinals. There, they beat Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15-6, 15-12. In the final, they lost to Chinese pair Zhang Jun and Gao Ling 15-1, 12-15, 15-12 to finish with the silver medal.
[edit] Since 2006
The 2006 Commonwealth Games brought Emms a Silver in the team event, a Bronze in the Women's doubles and a Gold in the mixed doubles. An additional gold together with Robertson followed at the 2006 IBF World Championships.
She has confirmed that she will retire after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. [2]
