Robertson and Emms Go for Gold

Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms will tomorrow venture into territory never previously explored by British badminton players, an Olympic final.

The No4 seeds came through their semi-final against Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen in stunning fashion, winning 15-6, 15-12. Now they will attempt to claim a first British badminton gold.

Robertson and Emms are assured of at least silver, surpassing the achievement of Simon Archer and Joanne Goode, who won bronze four years ago in Sydney.

Robertson and Emms delivered at the crucial moment to make certain of their place in the final.

"Yesterday we got through to the semi-final and I was thrilled about that, but I knew we had two matches still to go to achieve what we had set out to do," said Emms.

"So, in a way, I feel great but, on the other hand, we still have a job to do tomorrow and we have to focus on that.

"We know what we have to do against whichever pair gets through and so now we just have to try and stay as relaxed as possible and go out and do our best in the final."

Their achievement should not be underestimated. This straight-sets win came against a pair who reached the semi-finals of the world championships and in the previous round beat the top seeds from Korea, who had not lost in some 14 tournaments.

Robertson in particular was in magnificent form and totally dominated the opening set, which the Britons cruised through. The pair visibly tightened at the start of the second with the realisation that they were on the point of a historic achievement, and allowed the Danes to establish a six-point lead at 8-2.

The Brits recovered their composure, however, and began to eat into the deficit, eventually levelling the scores at 9-9. From that point on, the tension was unbearable, with the lead swapping hands until 12-12, when Robertson and Emms once again gained the upper hand. From that point they did not allow it to slip away.

They will face second seeds Jun Zhang and Ling Gao in the final, after the Chinese pair beat Danes Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager 15-9, 15-5.