Robertson and Clark struggled before securing the tie in the third match
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Nathan Robertson celebrated his 100th England cap with a win over Japan that secured the team's place among the top eight teams in the world. Robertson and partner Anthony Clark won their men's doubles clash in an epic 23-25 21-19 21-18 at the Sudirman Cup world team championships in China. At a game and 18-12 down, the experienced duo looked in trouble. But Robertson, 31, said: "I guess after 99 caps I should have some experience and it helped us come back." England opened the tournament with defeats by China and Indonesia and would have faced a relegation play-off had they lost again.
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I still hope to play till the 2012 Olympic Games so I expect I could win another 20 caps
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But they now go into the fifth/sixth place game against Malaysia or Denmark on Friday. Mixed doubles duo Clark and Donna Kellogg won the opener and Andrew Smith won the men's singles against Kenichi Tago in 65 minutes, the longest match of the tie. Robertson, who became only the 10th England player to reach 100 caps, was joined by partner Clark, now only 10 caps away from the milestone himself. "I might have a glass or two of Champagne on Friday night after the last match here in China," added Robertson, who won an Olympic silver medal in Athens with Gail Emms.
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606: DEBATE
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"As for the future, I still hope to play till the 2012 Olympic Games so I expect I could win another 20 caps if I am in the team over the next two or three years. "I have no ambition to beat anyone's record, I remember hoping maybe for one cap when I was a junior so to be on 100 now is more than I could ever have hoped for!"
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