“Travel is when our marriage really helps,” explains Chris. “Lots of athletes miss their partners. But if we are at a tournament and get a night off, we can go for a meal and for one night we are just husband and wife again.”
Chris is from Ravenshead in Nottinghamshire and grew up playing badminton in his back garden with his grandfather, before joining his local village club. Gabby, from Garforth in Leeds, learned through her school badminton club; she and Chris first encountered each other at junior county badminton competitions and started competing as a mixed doubles pair aged 14.
They won silver at the 2011 World Championships in London, but their coaches controversially decided to split them up before London 2012. “They thought we needed to play with older partners to learn more,” explains Gabby. “We became much more rounded players.”
