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Thursday, September 21, 2000
Badminton News Online

Bronze first for Britain

David Chappell

Joanne Goode and Simon Archer won Great Britain’s first Olympic badminton medal today when they struck bronze in the mixed doubles. But any delight that accompanied it was tempered with a feeling of disappointment. “Bronze is better than nothing,” Archer said, “but I know we should have been in the final playing for a gold medal.”

His partner echoed the sentiments. The British pair had let slip a comfortable lead and missed a match point in the semi-final yesterday against the top-seeded Indonesians and the prospects of a play-off against the European champions from Denmark had held scant consolation. In an increasingly tense final Goode and Archer staved off two match points before beating Rikke Olsen and Michael Sogaard, of Denmark, 15-4, 12-15, 17-14. “Thank God that’s over,” Goode said. “It was horrible - it reminded us of yesterday.”

Goode, 27, the only mother playing at the top level on the badminton circuit, had denied herself the chance to see her three-year-old son Jack for the first time since leaving England three weeks ago until her mixed campaign was over. Her husband, Andy, had arrived here from their Hertfordshire home yesterday and watched the final but her father and son were not in the arena as a dramatic final reached its nervous and error-strewn conclusion.

If Goode’s mind was entirely on the job of beating the fourth-seeded Danish pair, her partner’s thoughts were on injuries. Archer pulled a pectoral muscle in the quarter-final and had to have treatment before the third set. He was also wearing odd shoes, to protect a bruised toe. “I was more worried about my chest than the opposition today,” Archer said. “I struggled to finish rallies off overhead as you could see from my errors. The women are on top of the net to get lift, the men try to finish it off but it is hard when it hurts.”

Both pairs came into the match from disappointing semi-final defeats and the British pair settled much the better. Goode provided calm and composure as the talented and demonstrative Archer began to find his range. The Danes could not find a way into the set and after 20 minutes Archer finished it with a trademark smash.

The strain began to show in the second set and the British paid for some unforced errors early on. The willowy Olsen was also off her game but Sogaard carried his partner through with some outstanding retrieving and all-court play. After 21 minutes two poor shots from the back court by the struggling Archer, 27, allowed the Danes back on terms.

The final set was a mixture of the brilliant and neurotic with both pairs struggling for consistency. From 6-4 up Goode and Archer went seven consecutive hands without winning a service point and at 9-6 down, the medal seemed to be slipping from their grasp.

But the strength of the partnership - which was forged after the Atlanta Olympics when their respective partners retired - surfaced at the crucial moment. They pulled back to 11-11 but Archer’s problems from the back of the court allowed the Danes to reach match point at 14-13. Twice they were repelled and with possession of the shuttlecock the British moved to closure. When Goode’s drop shot hit the top of the net and dropped impossibly for Sogaard to retrieve, the celebrations began on court and among the sizeable British following in the capacity 6,000 crowd.

"We’re both quite strong characters provided we keep our heads up,” Goode said. “It's a fantastic achievement and great for badminton in Great Britain,” Archer, who lives in Worcester, added. But the Commonwealth champions and world championship silver medallists still could not escape the disappointment of not playing for the gold medal. “Every time you go to sleep you see yourself cocking it up,” Goode said. At least they, unlike the Danes, had something to show for a tough week.

David Chappell
The Times