Adcocks are out to avenge 2015 heartbreak

The world number seven pair will once again compete in the mixed doubles as the great and good of world badminton descend on Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena from March 8-13.

Last year saw the Adcocks enjoy their best-ever YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships as they reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual runners up Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir from Indonesia.

But the pair didn’t stop there and signed off from 2015 with victory in the Dubai World Superseries Finals, and ahead of Birmingham Gabby is eyeing up more of the same.

“We always have that confidence in ourselves but it’s always different when you go and actually deliver it and come home with the title,” she said.

“I think it’s come at a really good time and we’ve had a good break over Christmas, especially after ending the year on a high.

“So Christmas was really nice and we’re looking forward to our next major championships, which is the YONEX All England. We’ve had a really solid training block and we’ve been able to build on that.

“My memory of last year is of two points! It was really close, we played a very good game and it was really long with Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir from Indonesia.

“Obviously we were absolutely gutted that we didn’t get over the line and hopefully we can correct that this year and go a step further. I think we’ve improved since then, results have shown that. It’s a really exciting time and we’re looking to get out there at the YONEX All England Championships.”

The YONEX All England Badminton Championships is a key event ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

And Gabby admits that after watching husband Chris exit in the first round of London 2012 with then-partner Imogen Bankier, thoughts of Brazil are never far from her mind.

“The Olympics is still a little while away for us, so we’ve got tournaments we want to peak for before then,” she added.

“It’s definitely something though that drives us in training every day. Every day we wake up and it’s in the forefront of our minds that we want to do well at the Olympics.

“We can’t have any off days in training and we really need to get that consistency to give us the best chance to deliver on the day. It’s a really exciting year ahead and it’s something we definitely do think we can do well at.”

Watch the world’s best players at the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena from 8-13 March. For tickets visit allenglandbadminton.com