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Hall: People from our country can make it
Date: 3/31/2020 1:54 PM
Published by : BEC Staff

Scottish badminton fans are excited by the current form and potential of the men’s doubles partnership of Alex Dunn and Adam Hall. Many have dubbed them the ‘new generation’. 


The Scottish and Austrian Open men’s doubles champion, Adam Hall, talks about how this label makes him feel. 


-It feels kind of weird being described as the ‘new generation’ for me as I've been around the circuit for a good seven years now! Plus, I am the oldest man in our squad by a good two and a half years, so it makes me feel old! 


Hall, 24, being the oldest male player in the Scottish set-up just goes to show how young the Scottish team is. With their recent success and climbing into the world’s top 40 this year, many view them as leading the way towards a bright future for Scotland. Asking if there is increased pressure being seen this way, he responds.


-I don't feel any pressure really, I just try my best to be a good example for all the kids coming through. The idea is to show them that people from our country can make it to a very high level and we don't need to put limits on ourselves. 


Like Hall says, with no limits placed on the pair, he goes on to talk about his major goals in his career. 


-I think big goals have to be to win medals at events like the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games. Realistically we're looking in the short-term to try and get some better results in the World Tour events. We've won a couple of challenges in a row now, so we'd like to start making it to the latter stages of the bigger events now. Then medium-term, we can definitely challenge for medals at the next European and Commonwealth Games. 


Read: Dunn: Pride with Scotland on the back of my shirt


I love my country 

For England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, an Olympic year means a focus on ‘Team GB’, and the qualification for the prestigious Games. This also means extra pressure for places. Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour is in pole position to represent GB, however, Dunn and Hall have to compete with several strong pairs from England. Sharing his feelings towards Team GB, Hall says.


-For me personally, I would rather compete as Team Scotland. Unlike other sports where they compete as GB more often, we only do this at the Olympics and now the European Games. So, we never really get the chance to connect to GB as we do with Scotland. I love my country so playing as part of Scotland will always mean a little bit more to me. 


The Scottish duo currently sits as the eighth-best pair in Europe, but Hall is all too aware of the work that needs to be done to challenge the top pairs, and how playing mixed doubles at the same time as an impact on this target. 


-I think on our day we can definitely challenge or beat a lot of the top European pairs. I think for us now, consistency is going to be key as it’s not enough to play one good game. You need to keep that level through three or four matches with the number of quality pairs there are in Europe. 


-I have always really enjoyed mixed doubles and playing more in the last year has definitely improved what I'm doing in my doubles as well. I think that in small countries like ours, it's not smart to only focus on one event as it really narrows your options for team events. We don't have the luxury of some countries that have enough good players to focus on specific events. Hopefully, we will in the future! 


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