AFTER a brave, if nervous, fight Elizabeth Cann failed to make the badminton singles’ final and will now play-off for bronze tomorrow.

After a super performance earlier in the day to defeat India’s Lalij Popat, she faced No 1 seed and England No 1 Tracey Hallam in the semi-final.

Before a packed arena at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, the points in the first game kept level for a long time, with Cann catching Hallam every time she took a lead.

Cann didn’t get in front until she made it 15-14.

But despite beating Hallam on three previous occasions, including in the national final in 2005, Cann could not pull enough shots out of the bag to take the first game, eventually losing 17-21.

In the second game, Cann seemed frustrated and began making a number of unforced errors and really lost the match to Hallam – as opposed to being beaten by her.

At one point she asked the umpire if she could have some sweat cleaned from the playing surface, but he declined.

She also asked a number of times for a shuttlecock to be exchanged, but was again denied.

This appeared to aggravate Cann slightly, which led to her to losing a few more points.

She eventually lost the second set 21-8.

It means she will be playing for the bronze tomorrow against Scotland’s Susan Hughes.

Also playing for a bronze tomorrow will be Jersey’s Beckie Herbert, who lines up for the England hockey team against India in the third/fourth-place play-off.

After her defeat, Cann said: ‘Obviously I’m very disappointed because I’ve beaten her before.

I was very tired in the first game and in the second I just couldn’t get my length right.’ Looking forward to tomorrow’s match, she added: ‘I’ve got to pick myself up for it now, as I don’t have much choice really.’ Her opponent Hallam said that she was nervous before the match.

‘Liz has beaten me three times before so I knew that this was going to be difficult.

But now I can relax and get a good night’s sleep.

‘At the back of my mind I had that national final from two years ago and wanted to make sure that I didn’t repeat that performance here in Melbourne.’