Hunt hands on the baton
Author: GMG Regional Digital.
Date: 08 Feb 2005
Category: Tournament Results
Only diehard badminton fans would have seen Chris Hunt's brief comeback at the
English National Championships.
And it seems likely the Bolton-born star, now 36, has put away his racket for
the final time.
All the talk last weekend at the Velodrome was of Olympic silver medallists Nathan
Robertson and Gail Emms.
And unless you were at the venue late on Friday night, you would have missed
Hunt's return to action after a four-year absence.
He played two rounds of the men's doubles and was still feeling the effects 48
hours later.
But Hunt, along with Simon Archer, was once Britain's highest-profile player.
He competed at three Olympics, starting with Barcelona in 1992 and ending in
Sydney eight years later.
"In
1996 in Atlanta, we had a great chance to win a medal," said Hunt, who
won Commonwealth medals and two European doubles titles.
"And
while it's easy to say with hindsight, if we'd had the right coach,
then I'm convinced we could have gone to the next level."
Hunt
quit soon after Sydney while Archer, five years younger, is still going
strong. His partnership with Anthony Clark last Sunday yielded a ninth
National doubles title, six of them with Hunt.
"Simon is a fantastic competitor, not as naturally talented as Nathan Robertson,
but more determined.
"Put the two together and you have the perfect combination."
Hunt and Chris Tonks reached round two before losing to Ian Palethorpe and Paul
Trueman.
