BADMINTON star Darren Hall's hopes of a fourth successive Olympic Games are fading fast (Chris Bevan writes).

The Chingford-based ace, who trains at Redbridge Sport & Leisure, is the English No.1 but the back injury that kept him out of action for most of 1999 looks like costing him a place in the Sydney team.

Hall's time on the sidelines meant he missed out on world ranking points which determine who gets a place on the plane down under and he has not been able to make up the lost ground.

He said: 'I'm struggling to make it and it looks very doubtful that I will be going.

'I lost a lot of qualifying points through my injury and although I'm ranked the best English player that doesn't mean I'm going. It's very disappointing.'

Hall made his debut as an Olympian in Seoul in 1988 when badminton was a demonstration sport and then reached the third round in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.

But his Olympic setback didn't stop Hall helping England scoop a silver medal at the European Championships in Glasgow last week.

He was in the team that beat Sweden, Ukraine and Russia to reach the final where they lost to a powerful Danish side.

Hall said: 'We did pretty well to get to the final but it was always going to be very tough against Denmark.

'They have two world champions in their squad and it ended up being almost a whitewash.'

Hall returns to national service in a fortnight when he travels to Malaysia with the English squad for the final of the Thomas Cup, a competition which is to badminton what the Davis Cup is to tennis.

England have a tough draw and must play China, Indonesia and Sweden in the group stages but Hall is confident they can do well.

He said: 'It is going to be very difficult but the atmosphere will be fantastic out there and that will lift us a lot.

'Badminton is the national sport in Malaysia and they give everybody a lot of support.'

BADMINTON star Darren Hall's hopes of a fourth successive Olympic Games are fading fast (Chris Bevan writes).

The Chingford-based ace is the English No.1 but the back injury that kept him out of action for most of 1999 looks like costing him a place in the Sydney team.

Hall's time on the sidelines meant he missed out on world ranking points which determine who gets a place on the plane down under and he has not been able to make up the lost ground.

He said: 'I'm struggling to make it and it looks very doubtful that I will be going.

'I lost a lot of qualifying points through my injury and although I'm ranked the best English player that doesn't mean I'm going. It's very disappointing.'

Hall, who trains at Redbridge Sport and Leisure, made his debut as an Olympian in Seoul in 1988 when badminton was a demonstration sport and then reached the third round in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.

But his Olympic setback didn't stop Hall helping England scoop a silver medal at the European Championships in Glasgow last week.

He was in the team that beat Sweden, Ukraine and Russia to reach the final where they lost to a powerful Danish side.

Hall said: 'We did pretty well to get to the final but it was always going to be very tough against Denmark.

'They have two world champions in their squad and it ended up being almost a whitewash.'

Hall returns to national service in a fortnight when he travels to Malaysia with the English squad for the final of the Thomas Cup, a competition which is to badminton what the Davis Cup is to tennis.

England have been given a tough draw and must play China, Indonesia and Sweden in the group stages but Hall is confident they can do well.

He said: 'It is going to be very difficult but the atmosphere will be fantastic out there and that will lift us a lot.

'Badminton is the national sport in Malaysia and they give everybody a lot of support.'