Peter Briggs admits the prospect of missing out on his sport’s oldest competition is a difficult hit to take.

Briggs, who turns 27 this month, has seen his ranking take a hit after starting a new men’s doubles partnership with Greg Mairs.

And that means he will miss out on the YONEX All England Championships in Birmingham next month, the sport’s oldest and most prestigious prize.

“For a home player it’s a very special tournament and I’ve loved every appearance there, the crowd are amazing, home support makes such a difference,” he said.

“I’ve got fond memories of going as a kid and to miss it for the first time in five years is a bit of a blow but I’m staying optimistic and I’m genuinely excited about the future.”

Briggs is a double bronze medallist at the European Team Championships and banked a World Tour victory with former partner Tom Wolfenden in 2017, sending his ranking rocketing.

But he claims to be embracing the challenge of a new partner, winning the Estonian Open with Mairs earlier this year to underline their potential.

“I won’t be in Birmingham because we’ll be playing in Portugal, trying to get our ranking up,” he added.

“It’s all about next season for us, this year we’re attempting to get a good base for our ranking and I’m rather enjoying climbing the ladder again, it’s good fun.

“We’ve had four tournaments and the results and performances have been progressively getting better - it takes time for things to properly gel in doubles.

“We want to be in the position to really start challenging the top pairs but we are a little way off that yet. We’ve going to spend the summer with the Tour in North America and I think that will really help us come together.”

The 2019 YONEX All England – Badminton’s Greatest Show on the sport’s world tour – will wow fans at Arena Birmingham, 6-10 March. For tickets and information: www.allenglandbadminton.com or search All England tickets