LANE Ben

General
OLYMPIC SELECTION CONTROVERSY
He and men's doubles partner Sean Vendy were selected to represented Great Britain at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, despite fellow British pair Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge, who won bronze at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, placing higher in the world rankings. Ellis and Langridge appealed against the decision on age discrimination grounds, but their appeal was rejected. "I think myself and Sean have shown over the last few months that we are ready to step up and play number one doubles in the absences of Marcus and Chris. We also both understand that there's a long way to go to reach the level we want to, but it's just a process." (miltonkeynes.co.uk, 30 Jun 2021; kcommunityhub.co.uk, 06 Jul 2021; badmintoneurope.com, 22 Jun 2020)

FAVOURITE COMPETITION
He says the All England Open is his favourite tournament. "It's sort of like the Wimbledon of badminton, because it's the biggest in the world bar the Olympics. I used to go and watch when I was younger, from when I was eight to 18, and now to play in it is really nice. There's a really good atmosphere around the arena, a lot of English fans cheering. We [he and doubles partner Sean Vendy] recently just got back from Asia where we played in Indonesia, and the atmosphere is absolutely incredible. We could see that it helps the local players there, so I think with the crowd cheering in England just gives you that extra bit of adrenaline which will hopefully get you over the line." (swlondoner.co.uk, 20 Feb 2019)

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AT MILTON KEYNES
He initially struggled with the workload required when he moved to Milton Keynes to train at England's National Badminton Centre at age 18. "When I first arrived in Milton Keynes, I was 18, so quite young. The training was really hard, and my body couldn't deal with it then, so it's taken me a long time to get used to it. However, over the last two to three years [from 2017 to 2020], it is just the effort you put in every day that really counts." (badmintoneurope.com, 22 Jun 2020)

PARTNERSHIP WITH SEAN VENDY
He and men's doubles partner Sean Vendy played their first World Tour series together in 2012. "I think because I've been playing with Sean for so many years, I don't actually know any different. Of course, it's a special thing walking out on court next to him, especially as we are so close off-court as well." (badmintoneurope.com, 22 Jun 2020)

He and Sean Vendy became the first British men's doubles team to reach the semifinals of the World Tour Finals, following their third-place finish at the 2020 edition of the tournament, held in January 2021 in Bangkok, Thailand. (bbc.com, 29 Jan 2021; SportsDeskOnline, 22 Jul 2021)