Clark and Kellogg find the Chinese a step too far

BADMINTON ace Anthony Clark and his partner Donna Kellogg conceded the Olympic Games mixed doubles were a step too far after they were blown away by hosts China in Beijing.

European champions Clark and Kellogg battled back from six points down to trail 15-14 in the first game before the Chinese roared to a 21-15 victory and then blitzed the second game 21-8 to take the tie.

And Athens Olympian Clark, who reached the 2006 World Championship final with Kellogg, admitted fourth seeds He Hanbin and Yu Yang were a class above after the Brits crashed out in the first round.

"We prepared phenomenally well. We couldn't have been fitter or stronger. It just shows that the Chinese keep taking the game to a new level, said Clark

"They keep improving time after time and keep getting better, they were just unbelievable, they came out here and had their A game.

''We didn't look at the draw and think that's it we're not going to go through, we were positive. We've beaten better pairs than them and you still believe you can do it.

 But today they just came out phenomenal; they weren't nervous or anything. They're quite a young pair so I thought we might be able to boss them from the beginning but they just came out flying.''

Kellogg and Clark - the eighth seeds - were tipped to take over the mantle from top British pairing and Athens silver medallists Gayle Emms and Nathan Robertson.

But the crushing defeat proved double heartache for Kellogg, who fell to Chinese pair Zhang Yawen and Wei Yili alongside Emms in the women's doubles on Saturday.

And the former Loughborough University student was devastated after seeing her Olympic dreams disintegrate at the first hurdle.

''We are extremely gutted and ever so disappointed,'' said Kellogg.

"It took a lot of hard work and dedication to get to an Olympic games. It's heartbreaking.

"We tried everything: we gave it our all but on the day it just wasn't good enough. They were always one step ahead of us in every aspect of the game.''

We knew we would have to play at the top of our game to have a chance. But we didn't quite get our best game out."

GERARD MEAGHER