Under-fire England defend World Championship pull-out

By George Scott, Sportsbeat

BADMINTON England officials have defended their decision to withdraw from this week’s World Championships because of security concerns.

WE WERE NOT SAFE: England's Nathan Robertson has no regrets about missing the World Badminton Championships (Getty Images)

The eight-strong English squad returned from the Indian city of Hyderabad this morning after media reports of a specific Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist threat against the event.

Players claimed they feared an attack on their team bus or hotel and slammed the organisers’ lack of security measures around the main venue and training facilities.

“We have not overreacted. We made our expectations of security very clear before the championship and they did not materialise on arrival,” said chief executive Adrian Christy.

“We thought we would be meet by appropriate levels of security but we were not impressed with the security both on arrival and on subsequent days.”

Former Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson claimed players were fully supportive of the decision.

“It was not a safe place for staff or players,” he added.

“We went training one day in a bus without any armed guards or security. We only had a bus driver protecting our safety.

“I’m just glad to be home in one piece.

“We were not safe in that situation. It wasn’t a difficult decision for me, the only choice was to come home.”

European mixed doubles champion Donna Kellogg added: “It was a quick decision, as soon as we decided our safety was being compromised we knew we had to leave the championship as soon as possible.”

Team manager Andy Wood added it was possible to enter the main stadium without accreditation while the team hotel was also easy to access.

“I hope they’ve stepped things up now but there was no evidence of those simple measures in place, which was very worrying,” he said.

Badminton England’s decision has been criticised by players and other associations, including Badminton Scotland’s chief executive Anne Smillie - who claimed it was an 'overreaction'.

“I’m disappointed with the comments attributed to Scotland. We took a decision that was right for us,” added Christy.

“Whether it's Scotland or any other nation, I respect their decision to stay at the championships and they should also respect our decision to leave."

Christy also added that Badminton England remain fully committed to next year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

“This decision does not affect how we feel about returning to India for the Commonwealth Games next year,” he said.

“We are sure they will be a great success and we have gre at medal aspirations for those championships.”