• Badminton World Championships

Adcock and Bankier claim shock win

Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier were surprise winners at Wembley Arena © PA Photos

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Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier knocked out the eighth seeds to reach the last-16 of the mixed doubles at the Badminton World Championships.

The British pair are the last home representatives in the mixed doubles at Wembley Arena following the top British pair Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork's defeat on Tuesday. Adcock and his Scottish partner had to dig deep to win two tight games to beat Thailand's Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 24-22 21-19 to reach the third round.

They will now face the Japanese pairing of Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals. And with just one pair qualifying for the British team for next summer's Olympics in London, Adcock and Bankier have their sights set on overhauling Robertson and Wallwork as the top pair.

"There are some very good British pairs around and it is a shame for the home crowd Nathan and Jenny went out," Adcock said. "But in terms of the Olympics, it is an individual sport. Nathan and Jenny are a good pair but they are our competitors as well.

"I am not saying we are excited they went out but it did spur us on to be the last British hope in the draw. We knew our style could work. We knew we had to play at our best and I think we did."

"It's fantastic," added Bankier. "We thought we could win and we did a lot of preparation. To pull it off in such a close game was great and we hope we can keep it up for the rest of the tournament."

Adcock returned to the court later to partner Andrew Ellis in the men's doubles, but was unable to make it a double celebration as the pair fell to fifth seeds Sung Hyun Ko and Yeon Seong Yoo. Adock and Ellis battled valiantly taking a surprise lead after winning the opening game, but eventually fell 18-21 21-13 21-13.

In the women's doubles, English wildcard pair Alexandra Langley and Lauren Smith battled valiantly but fell to 11th seeds Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse of Hong Kong. Japanese 11th seed Sho Sasaki was too strong for English teenager Toby Penty, claiming a 21-13 21-13 win in under half-an-hour.

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