Badminton News  

Pollock goes for gold

Longniddry's Craig Pollock is gearing up for a great Scottish double - and he aims to start by striking gold at this weekend's UK Schools' Games in Bristol.

Craig faces a hectic programme of singles, doubles and mixed, and he admitted: "I'm hoping to do especially well in the doubles and mixed

"I'm playing with Michael Campbell in the doubles, and Kirsty McGlynn in the mixed and they're the events I'm really going to concentrate on in the future.

"There are 16 Scottish badminton players in the team and it will be nice to mix with people from different sports. I think the whole team should do really well."

Craig, who is in his final year at Preston Lodge High School, has also been selected as one of four Scottish badminton players in the team for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in October.

And he admits that making the side alongside Michael's older brother,  Martin Campbell (Edinburgh), Angus Gilmour (Troon) and his Longniddry pal Paul Van Rietvelde is going to be a huge experience.

"It's going to be a much higher level than I've ever played at before," said Craig, who won this year's Bank of Scotland Scottish Under-17 doubles with Van Rietvelde. "After the injury, I really wasn't expecting to make the side and so I'm now just really excited."

When he completes his sixth year at Preston Lodge next summer, Craig intends to give it a go as a full-time badminton player - his big goal is to make the Scottish team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

"And there's an outside chance that I could make the London 2012 Olympic Games in London, which would be amazing," he adds.