Yorkshire duo look for net gains

A junior rugby league player at the time, Ellis was deemed worthy of a shirt with his local team Garforth Tigers, and even had a trial with the junior section of Leeds Rhinos.

Yet badminton, his first love, appeared beyond him until a routine game in Leeds caught the attention of county scouts and – despite not earning selection for his local club – Ellis was playing badminton for Yorkshire.

Within a matter of months he was representing England and by the time he was 14, Ellis was in the world-class programme.

Now, as he targets a place at London 2012, Ellis is hoping to fare better in the selection criteria than he did 14 years ago.

“I came to the sport quite late in the day compared to most people,” says the 25-year-old ahead of this week’s Yonex All England Open Championships.

“It was funny because Garforth Jets told me I wasn’t good enough so I played rugby league with Garforth Tigers.

“I did pick badminton up quite quickly, though. I got lucky. I got spotted straight away by Yorkshire, then playing for Yorkshire I got spotted straight away by the England selectors.”

Olympic selection is not quite as easy, as many of Yorkshire’s hopefuls have found out.

Leeds doubles star Gabby White is already having to turn her focus to Rio in 2016, as have a host of other players who have all come through the county system.

Only Ellis and Jenny Wallwork are left flying the flag.

Wallwork and her mixed doubles partner Nathan Robertson are 18th in the world rankings, four places behind their British rivals, Imogen Bankier and Chris Adcock.

Only 16 pairs contest the Olympic tournament at the Wembley Arena, and for two pairs from the same nation to qualify, they need to be in the top eight.

Ellis and his men’s doubles partner Adcock are 27th, but with five ranking tournaments left before the Olympic field is decided on May 3 and a host of doubles teams from the Far East cluttering the world’s top 16, Ellis is confident they will make the grade.

“There’s never a bad time to find form, especially coming up to a home event, but this would be an ideal time,” he says ahead of a big week in Birmingham.

“We have had a couple of tough draws playing pairs that have been top five in the world and taken them to three sets.

“We’ve been buoyed by that. Chris and I beat the Olympic champions recently which is a significant victory that has done wonders for our confidence.

“We have turned a couple over and it’s good to foster that winning feeling. Chris and I can make the quarters or the semis of the All England.

“We have done damage before, beating some top-10 pairs in the world in recent times. Winning the national title recently was a real stepping stone for us.

“Getting to the Olympics would be massive for me. Two years ago, I was playing with Dean George in a partnership that wasn’t as successful and I came close to falling out of the game completely.

“So to qualify for the Games would be a real turnaround.

“I’m trying not to think about it too much, just trying to stay level-headed. But it would be amazing playing in front of a home crowd. It’s what you play for.”

Wallwork is finding the path to London 2012 equally arduous.

A Commonwealth silver medallist with Nathan Robertson, the mixed doubles pairing endured a fallow period in the wake of their run to the final in Delhi in 2010.

But they have begun climbing the rankings on the strength of a victory in Sweden and need to continue that form to overhaul Adcock and Bankier as Britain’s Olympic representatives

“We need to find some good results in the next couple of months,” says the 25-year-old, who grew up and learned the game in Leeds.

“Our win in Sweden made a big difference, especially with Chris and Imogen losing.

“It’s not a case of peaking now for us, we have to chase at all these tournaments and we’ll hopefully be rewarded with some good results. We’re not setting targets but something like three tournament finals would get us in there. We definitely need some outstanding results.

“After the All England we’ve got the Swiss Open, Polish Open, European Championships and then the Indian Open. So it’s a crazy six or seven weeks.

“There’s huge points up for grabs so we’ve really got to push at the All England this week.”

Robertson is the senior member of the team, having won silver at the Athens Olympics with Gail Emms. Robertson and Wallwork are also in a relationship together off the court.

“We work really well for each other,” says Wallwork.

“Nathan has the experience. I’m a very aggressive player, while he’s very laid back.

“He reads the game better than anyone. He’s there even before I’ve hit the shot.

“He is aggressive in the way he reads the game, whereas I charge around everywhere.

“We complement each other really well. At the start of qualification I felt the pressure more. That’s where Nathan’s experience really came in.”