Badminton star Jenny Moore admits the prospect of missing out on her sport’s oldest competition is a difficult hit to take.

The 23-year old fell just short of the the ranking points needed to qualify for next month’s YONEX All England Championships in Birmingham.

And while she’s optimistic about her new mixed doubles partnership with Liverpool’s Tom Wolfenden, their time will have to wait.

“It’s gutting to miss out because being a home player there is absolutely phenomenal, the home crowd really pushes you on,” she said.

“You can always hear the school kids cheering you on, can always see the British flag flying and it’s just such a great atmosphere, a really good chance to play against the world’s top players.

“It’s the best tournament for the circuit. I think not just the England players would say that, but players all around the world.

“I had the good fortune of playing it a couple of years ago. We played the Danish pair (Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl) who were world champions and Olympic silver medallists at the time.

“For us to go around and experience against such a world class pair was amazing and something that I’d never done before.

“We didn’t win - it wasn’t the result that we were hoping for – but we felt like we competed, and we hope to continue to do that in the future.”

Moore will herself be cheering on from the sidelines when the tournament gets underway on March 6, one of over 30,000 home fans that are set to descend on the Arena Birmingham.

And, having paired with Wolfenden in the mixed doubles just months ago, Moore knows that the duo are on the right track to return to the stage in a playing capacity before long.

“For now, we’re trying to build up our ranking with my new partner Tom, just see where the tournaments take us,” she continued.

“In our second tournament together we got to a semi-final of a BWF World Tour 100 event – that was the highest level I had achieved in a Super 100, so that was a really good start to the partnership.

“At the national championships we got a silver medal, missing out to Ben Lane and Jess Pugh in the final. Hopefully onwards and upwards from here, and we’ll see how the rest of the season goes.”

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