British pairs tumble at All England Championships

Robertson and Wallwork were one of three British pairs to lose on Thursday

Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork were beaten in the second round of the All England Championships as British interest in the event came to an end.

The world's eighth-ranked pair went down 21-19 21-15 to fourth seeds Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba of Poland.

Earlier, Chris Adcock of England and Imogen Bankier of Scotland lost to Chinese duo Xu Chen and Ma Jin.

And Anglo-Scottish pair Gabrielle White and Robert Blair lost to Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam.

The defeats mean there are no British players left in any of the four main draws of the sport's most prestigious event, being held at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

It was scrappy, not a good one for the crowd and heavily disappointing Nathan Robertson

Defeat was a blow to Robertson and Wallwork's hopes of further establishing themselves in the top eight ahead of the qualification period for the London 2012 Olympics, which begins in May.

Robertson, 33, won Olympic silver with the now-retired Gail Emms in 2004 and is hoping for one last shot at gold with 24-year-old Wallwork on home soil.

The first game was tight with Robertson and Wallwork battling back from 13-10 down to lead 16-14 but their Polish opponents edged back in front to establish an early advantage.

The crowd favourites led early on in a scrappy second game but Mateusiak and Zieba hit back to level at 10-10 and then pulled away as both Robertson and Wallwork missed attempted winners.

Robertson said: "It was scrappy, not a good one for the crowd and heavily disappointing. We made too many mistakes and they were slightly better than we were defensively.

"We didn't play our best and they were a lot better than us. They were a little bit cleverer with the way they lifted and more controlled when they got into the rallies. We were snatching at the shuttle a lot more, so it was not our best day."

Adcock and Bankier started superbly but the unseeded Chinese duo hit back to reach the quarter-finals 14-21 21-14 21-13.

Despite the defeat, the pair are pleased with their progress having only teamed up last September with the intention of qualifying for London 2012.

Adcock said: "I know we can play better but we will take the positives and work on the negatives building up to the Olympics."

Bankier added: "We played really well in the first game but then they adjusted their tactics and we lost our way a bit - but they are a really top pair."

White and Blair also took their Thai opponents to three sets but were eventually beaten 21-15 16-21 21-16.