KYLE NETHERCOTT is getting ever closer to a gold medal and feels it may as well come in the biggest tournament of all – the world championships.

Nethercott, from Latton, has picked up five silver medals and a bronze in his last three major senior badminton championship appearances – the Europeans, English Nationals and All England.

If nothing else he believes it has been excellent preparation for the BWF World Championships in September.

Nethercott’s sequence started at the European Senior Championships last September when he won a silver medal in the mixed doubles and a bronze in the men’s doubles.

At the English National Championships in December, Nethercott finished runner-up in both events and repeated the feat at the 99th All England Seniors Badminton Championships, one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments in the world which this year was held at Hertfordshire University attracting 370 competitors from 17 countries.

“I played with John Bowker in the men’s doubles and we were seeded No.2,” said Kyle.

“In our group games we beat pairs from England, Germany and Denmark. Then in the semi final we were drawn against Jan Petersen and Jesper Tolman from Denmark, who had beaten us in three close ends at the European semis in Portugal.

“We changed our game plan this time playing a more patient and defensive strategy. It worked and we secured a relatively comfortable 21-14, 21-12 victory.

“That put us in the final against the England-based Malaysian duo Kim Heng Yong and James Wong.

“While they had defeated us in the final of the English Nationals we had beaten them only three weeks earlier when winning the Yorkshire Gold Open. However, it was to be their day again as they beat us 21-17, 21-14.”

In the mixed doubles, Nethercott was playing alongside a new partner, Tracy Walker from Lancashire.

He had won silver at the Europeans with Pauline Williams, so the new pairing had plenty to live up to.

The duo did not gel immediately and the early tournaments proved tough, but at the English Nationals they beat the No.2 seeds in the semi final before losing out to Don Burden and Debbie Miller from Herts in the final.

That was not enough to earn Nethercott and Walker a seeding at the All England but they were confident of progressing to the latter stages.

“A couple of hard-fought wins in the group and the withdrawal of the No.3 seeds saw us progress to the semis against my men’s doubles partner John Bowker and Chris Summers “In the semi, Tracy played some excellent badminton and after losing the first end we fought back to win 21-18 in the third.

“We then faced the Swedish/Irish duo Nils Carlson and Pam Peard but the semi final win had taken a lot out of us and we lost the final 21-15, 21-16.

“However, our recent good results should ensure a good seeding at the worlds in Sweden and, who knows, maybe we can win that elusive gold.”