Ellis not taking anything for granted ahead of YONEX All England
Marcus Ellis is not taking anything for granted after a rollercoaster year as he hopes to put his hard work into practice at the YONEX All England Championships.
The 34-year-old felt a return to the hallowed stage in 2023 was perhaps too soon following hip surgery in the wake of silver at the previous year’s Commonwealth Games.
Alongside mixed doubles partner Lauren Smith, the pair believe that 2024 will provide a clean slate and an opportunity to prove themselves to the world watching.
He said: “It’s been really tough, I’ve learned a lot about myself and what coming back from an injury like that requires.
“There are no guarantees that you’re going to return to the level that you once were so, it’s been quite a rollercoaster.
“In all honesty, I probably wasn’t fully ready at last year’s YONEX All England, and I was disappointed with the performance.
“I’m happy with where I am now. I’m starting to get some consistency and I’ve learned what works for me, and certainly what doesn’t work for me.”
The duo were knocked out of the opening round in last year’s tournament by Japan’s Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.
Ellis is adamant there will be improvements at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham this year and they face a tantalising first-round clash against fellow English pair Greg and Jenny Mairs.
He said: “It’s a huge year for us. Outside of an Olympics or a World Championships, the All-England is everything to us.
“It’s an event where we don’t want to disappoint ourselves or the people that come to watch, we want to put on a show and a good performance.”
In the background of competing in 2024 is Ellis and Smith’s Olympic qualification charge.
Success at the YONEX All England Championships would bolster their hopes but the pair are aware that punching their ticket to Paris 2024 rests on their performances over a 12-month period.
With Ellis’ depth of experience, including taking men’s doubles bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016, he has full confidence he and Smith can step up when it matters.
He added: “There’s a lot of pressure because our qualification period is a full one-year experience and there’s a lot of competitions along the way there that are of huge importance.
“In that period, we’ve taken on a psychologist to deal with lots of different pressures this year.
“We said, ‘let’s get ahead of this’ and then when the pressure came through, we were prepared for it and knew what we needed to do to get better.
“We want to look back at the end of our career and say we performed at those tournaments.”
