Robin Middleton

[ClivePalmer]

What are everyone's thoughts on the young doubles player?

[justme]

good one

[ClivePalmer]

touche

[gurner]

Had some good results in doubles with Chris Langridge but a bit slow.

[j]

he is a very good young junior. He justs needs a bit more experience at the big events. I also think he needs to be more positive about his game.Whenever i have seen him he has been very down on his game.I think he is a good prospect in both mens and mixed. Lets not put too much pressure on the young lad and let him progress.

[Cher]

Yer a bit slow.
Needs more footwork practise.
Smashes are not very fast either.
I think he will specialise in doubles myself.
What do you think?

[Seymour]

I agree.
He is too big and does not have good enough movement around the court for mixed.
Doubles will be his thing.

[keithholmes]

After playing and watching badminton for 30 years man and boy I think he has the most mature style of play that I have ever seen in a junior, his movement has raised a question mark but this can be improved.

However there have been concerns over his general attitude and lack of respect for fellow players and even coaches.

Hopefully in the future his overall manner will match the maturity of his game

[georgelarge]

Having known Robin for 6 years and acted as his team manager in International Events, Robin is mentally strong and never loses his 'bottle'. His physique does not lend itself to singles but he is imposing on his opponents in doubles events. He has an excellant defence and is tactically very aware. He has won many junior events and is a good prospect for the future. He should be given credit for the way he has represented his Country abroad which in my experience has been first class. I hope he makes it at senior level.

[chrisroe]

In my opinion I think he is the most likely English junior doubles player to be very successful at senior level.

However, having the potential and fulfilling it are two very different things. It is very difficult to say which players will make the transition and improvements required to move up the levels of the badminton ladder. Some who show promise fall by the wayside and others who appear to be one of the crowd suddenly stand out later.

Cheers,
Chris.

[daveaddis]

i believe these young players like robin and daniel corby are over rated, i've been watching the progress of young danny hendry throughout the satelite circuit, i was impressed, good luck to him in the satelite finals, i think daniel corby will meet his match.

[Luncheon]

Am I right in remembering at the nationals, Robin and Chris putting Archer and Sullivan under considerable pressure?

[dlp]

Chris, they didn't play them. Robin and Chris beat Graham Hurrel and Martin Wells then lost to Robertson/Jeffrey. No one put Archer / Sullivan under pressure until they lost in the final.

[Seymour]

Can anyone tell me who the true Under 19 players are for this coming season?
I think Simon Hardcastle and Hayley Connor have now left Under 19, is that true?

[Seymour]

Can anyone tell me who the true Under 19 players are for this coming season?
I think Simon Hardcastle and Hayley Connor have now left Under 19, is that true?

[ClivePalmer]

yes seymour, simon and hayley are too old now.

[carl]

in response to adrian's views i do believe danny hendry is a good player,on a par with danny is a youngster called carl goode, but will carl's neanderthal like appearences manage to scare off danny in the long run.

[Site Support]

Really don't like doing this but we have just removed another post that was personally abusive.

Please don't do this...it isn't really fair on people who can't defend themselves here.

Thanks :o)

[wags]

I saw him play at the weekend in Wimbledon and I think he is a very good player and one for the future, however I thought his partner Chris Langdrige was better. He was quicker, and stronger than Robin, and generally created more chances for the partnership.

I thought they would go on and win on the weekend, but came unstuck against two more experienced players in Knowles and Waterman.

Where have those two been? I haven't seen them in ages!!!

[Lemon]

I personnally don't think he has any future in mixed.Too big, slow and does not move round the court very well.
He needs a bigger smash to succeed in mixed.

[Morrissey]

Are they playing in the Essex tournament as I hope to be there myself.

[Lemon]

Yer, loads of Under 19 players are entering the Essex Challenger. Hope there is a better turn out than the Wimbledon!

[spanks]

having seen both Robin and Chris (robins partner) play i agree that they are both talented youngsters and now need to be put on to the senior EBU circuit as soon as possible in order for them to gain the experience needed to progress. From watching them both play,for me Chris is the more complete player,he`s alot quicker around the court,defends better,hits it harder and has nice control.

**edited by site support 10:10 11 September 2003**

[poharssister]

robin isnt a bad player infact he could make a reasonable senior but at the moent he has weaknesses that would be exploited by the majority of the players on the senior tour.trust me,good results at junior level hold no bearing on senior performance.robin needs to work on his speed but he is well aware of his.i think that it is time to split langridge and middleton up,i no they have another season at juniors but in the long run junior titles wont get them anything.if they could get some experience playing with older more experienced players (not too old but currently involved with the senior program) i feel it would bring them on tremendously and hopefully fill the void created by the retirement of so many senior players this year.come on finn,its time to realise the errors you made with players like trueman and roebuck by not givin them a chance to play with a senior early.dont waste these lads!

[Grover]

Robin and Chris can't be bad if they won the U19 Yorkshore Open!

http://www.baofe.co.uk/download.php?session=&download=978

[stuartwardell]

I think you are missing Roebucks point Grover.
However Kristian i do think that players today give up to early.If you have given up then iam sorry to hear that but then why.
You were one of the most talented doubles players ive seen since Nathan so why not persist.
Today we hear to much about players giving up because theres not enough money in the game but the players in the past didnt even have 5-6 thousand pounds to get them by like there is today.
Nick Ponting made a point a month ago that it was persistance and hard training that got him to the top.Anders and Knowlesy the same and these players at 18-23 didnt have the lottery money to live on but they had the vision of if they became the best in ther disciplines they might make some money.
After all you have the rest of your lives to get normal jobs and earn some money like the names above so why give up after 2 years at senior.
Players like Hurrel and Jeffreys were good players but they were not as talented as Kristian but to give them credit they have persisted through hard times and now personally are very good players and have earned the right to play for England.
Just out of interest Roebuck why have you given up mate?sw

[Grover]

Stuart, agree with you, I was referring to some of the comments made earlier in the thread which were very unfair and curt.

[wags]

Stuart,

with all due respect, the likes of Jeffrey and Hurrell only played for England because many of the top players gave up i.e Pearson/Hunt/Quinn/Cottrill/ etc etc.

It is a real shame that a talented player like Roebuck has given up so soon.

[chrisroe]

I'm not convinced that kristian's post was actually written by him. Read the last sentence, it just doesn't make sense in the first person...

A lot of the other comments I agree with, especially giving the younger players opportunities to play with older seniors, they benefit from an experience perspective and get used to playing different roles within a partnership.

I also think that the replies to his post have assumed that he has given up.. I didn't read it that way and would be very surprised if he had.

Cheers,
Chris.

[Luncheon]

I agree Chris, I didn't think it said he'd given up. Which would be even more surprising considering he's only just come back from the far east tournaments.

[BillyBudd]

I agree with Wags, it would be a shame if Roecock retires from the game so soon.

Do Jeffrey and Hurrell still play?

[Khalid]

I thought Kristian Roebuck was playing with David Lindley, or so it would appear from the US Open draw/results page:

http://www.worldbadminton.net/portal/documents/USA03md.htm

[BillyBudd]

Dave lindley is still playing! There is hope for neil Waterman after all then. They are both carrying a few excess pounds.

[spanks]

I agree with Kristian,these players who show the ability to progress to england senior level shouldnt be left hanging around in the junior squads when it would be beneficial to make the progression to senior level earlier.If you look back in recent years at the players who have been separated from their junior partners(Robertson,Clark,Sullivan,Lindley,Roebuck) they all improved alot in a short space of time. So surely the earlier this takes place the better. Maybe its time for the performance director to use his powers of persuasion??...and utilise the players at the ends of their careers and pair them up with the top juniors.

[stuartwardell]

Thats a good idea spanks but the juniors could get more senior expirience under there belts earlier if they had the time to play county events.The only time this happens is when the youngsters are playing for first teams in premier events.

[spanks]

I agree stuart, young players are taken away from the senior county scene when really they should be blended in to allow them to learn from players with a wealth of experience. Maybe the counties themselves could encourage the senior players to enter a few senior tournaments with the younger players?

[mcsmegor]

it is my personal opinion that many of you have the wrong view on robin. Having recently played against him I feel it is unfair to describe him as slow and also as to not having a powerful smash! It is indeed his strength and knowledge of the game which i feel are his greatest strengths. For someone over 6foot it is hard to appear to be extremely fast around a badminton court but he compensates for this by his ability to read the game. to finish i was pipped at the post in beating him :o)

[poharssister]

Is greg anderson Robin Middletons dad by any chance as he seems to have a very biased opinion?

[BobbyCharlton]

Billy Budd i'll have you know that comments like that are not helpfull for players like myself who are slightly overweight,I am currently seeing the psychologist and nutritionist to battle the problem and try and get back to fighting weight. I dont have the privalige of commenting on your weight as you,like a coward,chose to remain annonymous. I suggest you fill in your profile so we can all have a laugh at your expense!? Dave.

[gurner]

Can't be that bad having read on the BAofE website that he has won the danish cup doubles 4 times. By the sounds of that it has to be some sort of record!

[Lemon]

Why is this thread being repeated again?

[Martin Dew-Hattens]

Kevin mentioned the splitting of young players!!

This certainly has worked in the past. A young player who has the talent can in the space of six months or less make the grade to top international. I can think of at least a dozen players om a worldwide basis -including myself -in which this worked.

In the end the young player takes over the partnership and becomes the leader.

The only problem with this is the friendship that two young players have built up. The decision is usually made or forced by a manager since the young players don't feel equipped to rock the boat and loose a friend.

At the end of the day the aspiring player will realise its a question of titles, contracts and income versus friendship - so its mostly down to ambition.

Its very difficult to be friends with a player who is going after the same pot of cash to pay the mortgage each month.

[dlp]

Re splitting young players... Blair partnered Archer at a couple of events recently, suddenly he was competing well against some of the top mens doubles pairs in the world!

[TheDaddy]

Blair is overrated as a mens doubles player, good at mixed though but whenever I seen him train or play in tournaments Ian Palethorpe always outshone him in ability and especially in attitude and effort. But Blair will always be the golden boy because its obvious he never came down to England without being made certain promises, just ask Pete Jeffery who was ranked higher in the world than him before the Commonwealth games but mysteriously was not selected.

The problem with splitting younger players is that Jobs in the BAofE are on the line and they obviousley see it as a risk results wise. Added to that all of our older players have been discarded to easily ie: Julian Robertson and Chris Hunt. Its a method that does work as it has in the past with Hunt and Archer, and Robertson and Robertson.

[johng]

So Robert Blair came to England because he was made 'certain promises'..Care to tell us what those promises were, or what you think they might have been!! or if this is simply supposition or fact

Thought Robert came down long before tha Commomweath selection process, and was picking up good results in the Mixed with Natalie. Who was Peter playing with to get so high in the rankings


Has the policy changed? The split between Hunt/Archer and the two Robertsons was made by the players, not the BAofE. Are the BAofE now selecting pairs or is it still the players choice

[johng]

Whoops......we seem to have wandered off thread

[danbecks]

Why not put two young players together and leave them to see how they get on.
I would have liked to see what Ian p and James Anderson stay together but they were split up and for me the best one gave up.