JERSEY badminton star Elizabeth Cann is in good shape and looking forward to making her Uber Cup début with England on Tuesday in Slovakia.

Cann is fourth seed for England in the Uber Cup – her sport’s equivalent of tennis’s Davis Cup – in Slovakia, where her team play matches against the hosts, Slovenia and Portugal.Cann said this morning: ‘We leave on Sunday and I’m in good shape.

Training this week has focused on match practise and speed week.

The coaches have really kept us on our toes and I’m looking forward to the tournament.’Last weekend Cann, together with fellow Jersey girl Solenn Pasturel, competed in the English National Championships at the Manchester Velodrome.

Cann was beaten in the semi-finals.’I got to where I expected.

I’d like to have won to get to the final by it wasn’t to be.

I did move a step closer though because I took a game off Julie Mann.’Cann, seeded four, had a first-round bye before then winning 11-5, 11-7 against Yorkshire’s Helen Ward.

She progressed with a 11-5, 11-2 success over Eleanor Cox to gain a semi-final against second seed Mann, winner of the title for the last eight years.Cann got off to fantastic start completely foxing Mann with her disguise shots.

However Mann recovered to ten-all after trailing 10-5 only for Cann to pull away again and win 13-11.A very fit Mann turned the tables in the second game winning 11-3 and after a series of unforced errors Cann found herself 10-1 down in the third.

She regained the serve a couple of times and pulled two points back but the deficit was beyond her as she lost the deciding game.Pasturel, currently ranked 20th in England, recorded good victories against talented junior Michelle Cheung (Buckinghamshire) in straight sets and Caroline Smith (Leicester, ranked 11) in a three-setter.She went out of the event in straight sets against top seed Tracey Hallam.