Silver duo set Olympic target

Chris Adcock and Imogen Bankier are targeting Olympic success after making a dramatic impact at the Yonex BWF World Championships.

The unheralded British duo shocked four seeded pairs during a surprise run to the mixed doubles final at Wembley Arena last week.

Only world No 1s and top seeds Nan Zhang and Yunlei Zhao, of China, deprived them of gold with a 21-15 21-7 win in the title decider on Sunday. The exertions of the previous few days had clearly taken their toll on the Anglo-Scottish pairing who, as the world No 20 team, had beaten the second, fourth, eighth and 15th seeds.

Adcock and Bankier are now set for a significant rise in the rankings and their hopes of a top-eight spot – and automatic Olympic qualification – are highly realistic.

The London 2012 tournament takes place at the same venue next year and Bankier believes they can be there. The 23-year-old from Glasgow said: “To play the number of games we have at Wembley has been a fantastic experience for what will hopefully be a successful Olympics. In terms of Olympic qualifying, this is a great start and hopefully we will shoot up the rankings.”

The unexpected run of Adcock and Bankier has also given the British game a much-needed boost. Results on the world stage have dipped since a successful period heralded by the Olympic silver medal of Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms in 2004.

Robertson, who is now ranked eighth in mixed doubles with Jenny Wallwork, had again appeared to represent Britain’s best hopes at the start of the week but the emergence of a new pair is encouraging.