ENGLISH CHAMPS: Langley upbeat about her progress

Posted: Thursday 9th February 2012 | 11:16

ALEX Langley saw her pursuit for a place in a final at the English National Badminton Championships ultimately end in vain - but she's convinced the progress is evident after another semi-final appearance in Bolton.

MOVING ON UP: Alex Langley, left, is taking the positives from her semi-final appearance at the English National Championships

The weekend got off to a bad start for the 20-year-old as she and mixed doubles partner Matthew Nottingham crashed out in the first round to Gary Fox and Sam Ward.

Langley exacted her revenge on Ward in the women's doubles however, teaming up with Lauren Smith, with whom she announced herself at the World Championships at Wembley last summer with a shock first-round win, and easing into the semi-finals.

The third seeds met their match in the last four however and sunk to a 21-11, 21-13 defeat to England's second ranked pair - Jenny Wallwork and Gabby White - but Langley believes there is still reason for optimism.

"I can't be too disappointed - I came here hoping to get as far as the seedings said that I should and after some hard-fought wins I've done that," said Langley.

"Of course it would have been nice to get to a final but I came here aiming to live up to the seedings and to get to the semi-final and I've achieved that.

"Our [women's doubles with Smith] ranking shows that we're probably the third best pair in the country and we really wanted to get up there and break into the top two but we feel like we're getting closer.

"We think that we have what it takes now to compete with the best of them but it is all about proving that out on court."

Langley won't have long to dwell on the disappointment of missing out on a place in a final in Bolton as she and Smith have been selected to make their England debuts at the European Team Championships in Amsterdam later this month.

And she's relishing the chance to broaden her horizons on the continent.

"We move on from here because we've got plenty more competitions to show what we can do and we're just looking forward to doing that," she added.

"It's great to be going to Amsterdam, it will be a tough challenge but one that we're really looking forward to."

To experience the English athletes and worldwide Olympic hopefuls next in England, purchase tickets to the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships from 6-11 March 2012 www.allenglandbadminton.com