Commonwealth Games has been great: England champ

Former world champion Nathan Robertson, England’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, came to the defence of the beleaguered Commonwealth Games, dismissing all talk of it being poorly organised. Robertson, part of the team that had withdrawn from the 2009 World Badminton Championships at Hyderabad due to a perceived terror threat, told DNA that the Games had been “a fantastic experience so far... we’ve had no problems at all. The venue’s been very good, the crowd’s been great. It has had one of the best atmospheres around.”

Robertson, whose mixed doubles partnership with Gail Emms was among the best of its time, was impressed by the support he received from a vocal crowd during his team’s bronze medal-winning effort against Singapore on Friday.

Robertson is one of England’s contemporary greats, having won the World Championships (2006) and the All England (2005) mixed doubles, and coming within a heartbeat of an Olympics gold. The 33-year-old inspired England to a bronze on Friday, winning both his doubles matches, and said it wasn’t surprising that some England swimmers had reportedly fallen sick.

“I think... when you’ve got thousands of athletes in a village — it doesn’t matter where in the world — people are going to get ill. The English team maybe had one person sick, but that would be normal anywhere in the world.”

Acknowledging the crowd that was vociferously behind the England team, Robertson said: “They like England, of course. They probably felt sorry for us, because India beat us last night (Thursday). But they have been very good, and you’ll see that again in the final.”

Asked if he regretted withdrawing from the World Championships, he replied: “Yeah, a little bit. But that was different. We were determined to come here and do well. This bronze is a great thing to take back.”