Robertson Can Add Gold Lustre to Star Quality

Name a British sportsman who not only wins, but wins with unadulterated flair. David Beckham, Freddie Flintoff, Jonny Wilkinson - the list will not detain you overmuch. But one thing is abundantly clear. It is time to add Nathan Robertson to the list.

Robertson and Gail Emms will become the first British badminton players to contest an Olympic final today - with silver already assured - after winning their mixed doubles semi-final yesterday against the Danes Jonas Rasmussen and Rikke Olsen. While Emms prays that her aching body will hold out a little longer, Robertson exudes a quality that deserves to rank him as one of the stars of the games.

It symbolises Britain's narrow sporting culture that Robertson's virtuosity has not already been recognised. He possesses a rare and moody talent: prodigious leaping smashes, Pentium-processor reflexes and a deft touch. His tiny goatee and lank, black hair gives him a look of the French footballer Robert Pires.

Emms is a perfect foil. She is pert, blonde and not averse to a nag or two. He is tall, swarthy and never far from mental turmoil. They first played badminton together in Nottinghamshire at 15. She intuitively understands his high-risk game and has learned how to encourage his highs and limit his lows. With every on-court comment she is a faith healer to a highly strung talent.

Lars Sologub, Britain's Swedish head coach, believes: "Nathan is No1 in the world in terms of flair. He has been an immense talent for a while now, but now he is a hard-working talent. He likes to take risks and that is why he is so good. There is nobody quite like him."

Britain's first badminton medal came at Sydney four years ago when Simon Archer and Joanne Goode won a mixed doubles bronze. But Archer and Goode were not an instinctive pair like Robertson and Emms. "These guys are different - they really belong together on court," said Sologub.

Sven-Goran Eriksson can take heart; it is possible for a Swede to coach Britain to a sporting triumph. But what Eriksson would have given for a footballer of Robertson's flair at Euro 2004, someone to think differently, and to dare to execute the impossible.

At times, this was a scrappy 15-6, 15-12 victory against a Danish pairing over which Robertson and Emms had three recent victories to their credit. The Danes were former world championship semi- finalists and had upset the Korean No1 seeds in the previous round, Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min, but they were beaten in 46 minutes.

The Danish professional leagues sustain Britain's top players - Robertson and his partner live in Copenhagen - so victory came with thanks. "We owe Denmark a lot," said Emms.

Robertson and Emms cruised to the first game, despite Emms' uncertainty around the net. They slipped to 8-2 down in the second, with Robertson briefly unsettled by a "fault" call. At 12-12, Robertson called Rasmussen's serve in and Emms, the receiver, was plucky enough to ignore him. It fell out. The match was theirs.

Emms will face hours of intensive physio before today's final against the Chinese defending champions, Jun Zhang and Ling Gao. For the previous round, her thigh was strapped, this time it was her achilles. "My body seems to be falling apart," she said. "I knew we were going to win but I was still terribly nervous. My movement was poor because I was worried about my achilles."

Emms is the realist. She chewed over Robertson's flamboyant victory back-twist and said: "It's not time to celebrate yet. He gets a bit over-excited."

Mixed doubles badminton is a wonderful sport if you fancy patting your partner on the bottom with a racket. Emms and Robertson do it more meaningfully than most. How many different messages can be conveyed in a gentle bottom tap? Bad luck, great shot, buck up. That's the one that is delivered a little sharper.

They have spent too long apart. Emms took a sports science degree at Kingston University; Robertson had other ambitions to explore. But their European Championship win in Geneva in April signalled that they were back on track.

It was not without acrimony. They beat Archer and his new partner, Donna Kellogg, in the quarter-finals. Emms accused Archer, her former mixed doubles partner, of "slagging her off all week". Archer responded that "there was only one bitch on court". Badminton mixed doubles makes a real divorce look child's play.