Badminton is a highlight in the Commonwealth Games! With eleven long days of competition, the event kicks off with the team event before players fight it out in the individual rounds.
This year, the Gold Coast are hosting the prestigious event, with badminton taking place at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre. European interest in the team event included Team England and Team Scotland.
Team Scotland missed out on a chance to fight for a medal after losing to Malaysia in the Quarter-Finals, 3-0. Meanwhile, Team England topped their group with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Uganda, South Africa and Australia before storming past Canada in the Quarter Finals with a 3-0 win.
Their unbeaten run came to a halt when they met Malaysia in the Semi-Finals where they lost 3-0. Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis lost to Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong 21-9 and 21-11 in the men’s doubles just before Chloe Birch took Soniia Cheah all the way in three sets, narrowly missing out after losing 21-17 15-21 21-18. Finally, Rajiv Ouseph went down 21-18 21-16 to four-time Commonwealth champion Lee Chong Wei.
Beat Singapore in the bronze medal final
The team spirit soon took a turn for the better as the smashed their way to the bronze podium after defeating Singapore 3-0 in the Bronze medal final!
Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith displayed character and resilience as they took the first match 16-21 21-19 21-18 against Hee Yong Kai Terry and Wong Jai Ying Crystal.
Rajiv Ouseph had the audience sat on the edge of their seats against Loh Kean Yew, saving four match points in a three-set thriller where he won 20-22 21-15 25-23 before Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge secured the third and final win to secure the medal, overcoming rivals Hee and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta 21-9 19-21 21-13.
Team England relieved that they won’t be going home empty handed
- It's my first Commonwealth Games, I don't know if I'll be at another one, hopefully I will, but I don't know at this stage. I really didn't want to go home empty-handed. I'm really relieved, said Marcus Ellis (BBC Sport)
- It's always nice when everyone's got a medal, which will help us go into the individual competition with a bit more bounce… It was quite hard to get back up to speed without much rest but I tried to hang in as long as possible, said Rajiv Ouseph (BBC Sport)
The full Team England badminton squad include: Chris Adcock, Gabrielle Adcock, Chloe Birch, Marcus Ellis, Ben Lane, Chris Langridge, Rajiv Ouseph, Jessica Pugh, Lauren Smith and Sarah Walker.
Individual Championships at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games start on Tuesday 10 April – you can follow the action and keep up to date with the scores here