TEN members of the Commonweath Games badminton squad going for gold at the Bolton Arena were named today.

The England squad achieved stunning success at the 1998 Commonwealths at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, winning three of the seven gold medals up for grabs, as well as a silver and seven bronzes.

The impressive haul included a clean sweep of gold, silver and one of the two bronzes in the mixed doubles competition, as well as golds in the women's team and women's doubles events.

A further announcement will be made nearer to the Games about the four remaining places in England's badminton squad. There are still three places for men and one for a woman player.

Finn Traerup-Hansen, Performance Director of the Badminton Association of England, said he is optimistic that the players

selected for Manchester 2002 will do well.

"We are quite positive," said Finn. "We have a strong team and a good mix of experienced and younger players.

"We are looking forward to taking some medals, but we're realistic enough to know it won't be a simple task," he added. "The Malaysians and some other nations are also very strong.

"We will definitely get a medal in the team event, and we hope it will be gold. It all depends on how we perform on the day."

The England line-up includes Jo Goode, a triple gold medallist at the last Commonwealths at Kuala Lumpur.

Jo was a member of the England women's team that struck gold last time around, and also won mixed doubles and women's doubles golds.

The Hertfordshire badminton player returned to competitive badminton in February after a break from the sport following the birth of her second child.

Also selected is Colin Haughton, from Denton, Manchester, who wil be on home turf at the Games. Colin said he is proud to make the England team and get the opportunity to play in front of his friends and family.

"I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "Playing here means my friends and family can come along, and I know it is a big opportunity for me."

Also included in the line-up is Mark Constable, who became English national men's singles champion at the beginning of February.

Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark, who teamed up to win a silver medal at the European Championships in Sweden in April, are also selected for the Games, as is Gail Emms, who won a silver with Nathan

in the mixed doubles at the Europeans.

England badminton players selected today are:

(the format below is name/date of birth/home/playing county)

Anthony Clark 1.11.77/Coalville, Leicestershire/Notts

Mark Constable 15.9.76/Milton Keynes/Warks

Gail Emms 23.7.77/Bedford/Herts

Jo Goode 17.11.72/Tewin, Herts/Sussex

Tracey Hallam 24.3.75/Burton-on-Trent, Staffs/Staffs

Colin Haughton 12.11.72/Denton, Manchester/Lancs

Julia Mann 9.8.71/Twickenham/Warks

Ella Miles 7.11.76/Milton Keynes/Cheshire

Nathan Robertson 30.5.77/Northampton/Notts

Sara Sankey 29.9.67/Milton Keynes/Lancs

Ann Hogbin, Chef de Mission of Team England, said: "I would like to welcome our badminton players to Team England and wish them all an enjoyable and successful Games."

Badminton matches take place at the Bolton Arena. The action begins with a mixed team contest. This differs from Kuala Lumpur, when there were separate men's and women's team events.

The team competition gets underway on July 28 event and ends with the final and then victory ceremony on July 30.

The individual events - men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles - begin the following day, culminating in finals day on August 4.

Sport England has allocated up to £1.5m a year to badminton until 2005 through the World Class Performance Programme to support its elite players.

This money has also funded the England squad in their preparations for the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.