No more British involvement at the World Championships

GREAT Britain's involvement in the World Championships in Yokohama is over after Paul Drinkhall and Joanna Parker crashed out of the mixed doubles.

Drinkhall, 19, competing in his first ever major senior tournament, suffered heart-ache in yesterday's singles competition, letting a 3-0 lead slip against Croatia's Zoran Primorac.

But he returned to action to team up with Parker in the last 64, after the duo had eased their way past India's Pathik Mehta and Kasturi Chakraborty.

The English duo matched Japan's Jun Mizutani and Sayaka Hirano for long periods of the match but eventually crashed to defeat to the home duo.

The Japanese pairing, buoyed by a partisan home crowd, race out of the blocks and took a 1-0, as they dug deep to grind out a 13-11 victory.

But Drinkhall and Parker roared back to take a 2-1 victory, courtesy of some big hitting from Drinkhall and seom deft touches from Parker.

Mizutani and Hirano dominated the fourth game to restore parity and in the critical fifth game, the British duo held a slender advantage, only to slip to an 11-9 defeat.

That broke Drinkhall and Parker's spirit and the home duo cruised to another 11-9 victory in the final game to book their place in the last 32.