Andrew Smith Fact Sheet

No.1 player in Britain in Singles

World Singles Ranking of 20

Age: 24

Born: 4th June 1984

Badminton Idols Growing Up: 

Paul Erik (Denmark)

Haryanto Arbi (Indonesia)

Sponsors: KLRC and Carlton

The Build Up to the Olympics

The training is going well after about  2 to 3 weeks in NZ, then I go to Malaysia for a week.  After that the whole GB (Great Britain) Olympic team - all sports - meet up in Macua for about a week just prior to the Olympics. Badminton starts at the Olympics on the 9th of August - when we actually play will obviously depend on the draw which should come out about a week before.

Main Opposition: 

In singles there are probably about 3 or 4 favourites.  The Chinese will be very strong at home Lin Dan (China - World No.1) & Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) are obvious ones to watch.  However the Olympics is a different sort of competition. 

You are around alot of other sports, there is the opening ceremony and there can be alot of expectations. 

So players you think should do well often don't and can get tense or a bit overwhelmed by the occasion.  I think it is really important to go in as relaxed as possible, not expect too much but just focus on performing well, giving it your best and try not to think about it

Others to watch for from GB include Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms - Silver Medalists at Athens.  Clark and Kellog another mixed doubles pair have a chance and are in the top 5 in the World.  You never know though at the Olympics but we certainly have some good players.

Why Andrew Trains in NZ

I find coming to NZ really good it helps me get away from things.  In England it can get very hectic before a major event with alot of press coverage and interviews and of course the hype leading into the games.  I find coming here allows me to focus on training in a relaxed environment and I can just do my thing.  I have some good people to hit with here and who help feed me shuttles during training.

In the UK badminton is not as popular as football or some other sports but it is still very popular and we get a lot of press coverage.  The build up to the London Olympics 2012 is also helping with that too. 

We tend to get quite a few TV requests or media commitments or certain events that we have to be at.  You get used to it after a while and you learn how not to give quotes that could be misinterpreted or cause problems.  E.g. we might get asked about our views on funding or drugs etc and you have to be careful how you respond especially if they are referring to a particular country of political body.

Andrew's Video Diary with the GB team - Part 1

Video Diary - Part 2

The Badminton Scene in the UK

In the UK badminton receives alot of funding from government compared to NZ - i can't remember the exact amount but it is  well over a million pounds.  That goes to high performance and some funding goes to juniors and development.  You can get extra funding if you are increasing participation numbers so there are performance goals also. 

There is a national training centre at Milton Keynes in London?.  It has everything you could want including a gym, recovery pool, physios, video analysis, nutritionists and alot more all on hand.  It is a great facility.  But even there it is something that doesn't suit everyone - for instance some people like to train on their own or may not use all the facilities but it is a great resource. 

There are also alot of players that have been at  at World Class level - e.g. won Olympic medals, All Englands both administering, coaching and playing the game.  So that provides a great deal of badminton knowledge that we can tap into.  I know alot of those people and grew up with many of them so I guess for me it is alot easier to approach them.

Andrew vs Taufik