Badminton stars ditched

THREE Team gB badminton players have been blocked from working with their own national team coaches after criticising the culture of the sport’s governing body. sportsmail understands Tokyo 2020 participants Marcus Ellis, Lauren Smith and Chloe Birch have all had their coaching support withdrawn after a post-Olympics fall-out with Badminton England staff including nathan Robertson, the Athens 2004 mixed doubles silver medallist. The Lottery-funded players had tried to initiate talks with head coach Pete Jeffrey and national coach Robertson earlier this month over longstanding concerns about the environment at the national Badminton Centre and the mental wellbeing of players. However, sources claim Jeffrey and Robertson failed to attend the meeting and a day later the three athletes were told over email they could not use Badminton England coaches in the immediate future ‘to give all concerned time and space to take steps to begin the rebuilding of relationships and trust’. it leaves three of Britain’s best players without support heading into a packed winter schedule, ending with December’s World Championships in Huelva, Spain. sportsmail’s revelations will raise more questions about the culture in the British Olympic system, following complaints about the welfare of athletes in sports such as gymnastics and cycling. it is also another example of a sport engulfed in civil war in the wake of Tokyo 2020 after similar fall-outs in athletics and rowing. Badminton England, who Smith accused before the games of ‘neglecting their duty of care for our mental wellbeing’, declined to comment.