Kate Robertshaw has vowed to make up for lost time at the All England Open Badminton Championships as she prepares to return from injury to partner Heather Olver in Birmingham.
The 22-year-old hasn’t hit a shuttlecock in anger in over a month, her last outing the Malaysia Open where she and Olver reached the second round of the women’s doubles draw.
A hip injury has forced Robertshaw onto the sidelines, a knock that ruled her out of playing with Olver for the first time at the English National Championships at the start of the month.
However she will return for the All England Open with Imogen Bankier, who represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, and Petya Nedelcheva first up for the pair in qualifying.
And, while gutted to miss out on what she did while nursing herself back to fitness, Robertshaw is determined to let anything pass her by when she steps onto the court in Birmingham.
“I was gutted to miss out on the Nationals because it would have been mine and Heather’s first time playing there together,” said Robertshaw.
“I sat and watched, which wasn’t the best feeling, but it made me want to get back as soon as possible. I’ve been back on court for the last few weeks and everything feels good so that is encouraging.
“I’ve never played at the All England Open before which is really exciting for me and I can’t wait to get out there on court in front of the home crowd and just get back to playing again.
“I am hoping my hunger to do well at the big tournaments will add something to my game. When you are not able to play it makes you want to come back stronger.
“It may be that I’m not the sharpest but I think that desire will be there and hopefully compensate. We’ve got a tough draw against Imogen and her partner which will be a strange style to play against.
“But hopefully if Heather and I bring our best game together there is no reason why we can’t progress to the main draw.”
© Sportsbeat 2013