Adcock misses out

Chris Adcock fell agonisingly short in his bid to claim a second last-16 place at the Yonex BWF World Championships in London.

The 22-year-old was on course to follow up his stunning mixed doubles success earlier on Wednesday as he and Andrew Ellis made a flying start in their tough men's doubles second-round match.

Adcock and Ellis, ranked 22 in the world, were a game and 10-6 up in the second against fifth seeds Cho Gun-woo and Yoo Yeon-seong before the South Koreans powered back to win 18-21 21-13 21-13.

The English pair's aggressive style had thrilled a small but vociferous crowd at Wembley Arena but mistakes crept into their game as the Koreans upped the tempo.

The defeat leaves Adcock to concentrate on his mixed doubles campaign with Imogen Bankier, with the pair now the sole remaining British representatives at next year's Olympic venue.

Leicester-born Adcock, 22, said: "We got a really good start.

"We played really well in the first and the start of the second was even better.

"We know the level is there but unfortunately they changed and adapted their game to ours and we didn't fight back quickly enough.

Dominated

"They steamrollered us after that but we know we dominated them for a set and a half and we will just have to look at where it went wrong."

That entertaining 59-minute encounter ended a brilliant day for Adcock on a sour note.

He had earlier shown his composure under pressure as he and Glasgow's Bankier won two tight games to overcome eighth seeds Songphon Anugritaywon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul 24-22 21-19.

Their blistering performance lifted home spirits after the loss of top hopes Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork in the first round the previous night.

The Anglo-Scottish pairing are 12 places below eighth-ranked Robertson and Wallwork in the world ratings but have their sights firmly set on catching them as the race for Olympic qualification intensifies.

Bankier said: "This is one of the key championships of the year, there are big points up for grabs.

"Obviously we are competing with the other Brits so every little one up we can get the better, I'm sorry to say.

Qualify

"It does depend on points and ranking but if we keep performing like we did today, results will take care of themselves.

"Obviously we're hoping to qualify but there is still a long way to go."

Adcock and Bankier will now play Japan's 15th seeds Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota - a pair they beat at the All England Championships in March - for a place in the quarter-finals.

Home involvement in the men's singles and women's doubles came to an end with defeats for youngsters Toby Penty and the pairing of Alex Langley and Lauren Smith.

Penty, an 18-year-old wildcard from Surrey ranked 291 in the world, was overpowered by 11th seed Sho Sasaki of Japan 21-13 21-13.

The match was always likely to be a tall order for a player plucked from the junior ranks to compete, but Penty believes he has learned plenty from his first major championships.

Penty, who beat Scotland's Alistair Casey in round one, said: "He was a bit more experienced and for me coming into the seniors, it was going to be difficult.

"There is no disgrace in losing to a player of that quality. Hopefully in years to come I will get a chance to play him again.

"It has been great to play in this venue, a really good experience.

"I'm 19 on Friday too, which tops off a week I will remember for a long time."

Langley and Smith, who also received wildcard entries, went down 21-10 22-20 to 11th seeds Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse of Hong Kong after leading 15-7 in the second game.

Langley said: "Obviously you don't want to lose but we're not too disappointed.

"We'll look at what we did and next time we won't let them get back!"

The shock of the day saw former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, the fourth seed from Indonesia, beaten 21-17 21-14 by Zia Liang Derek Wong of Hong Kong.