Wycombe coach Gary Fox admits he has no idea how he will get on at the English National Badminton Championships but won’t be short of time to discuss the plans with his mixed doubles partner.

Fox, who is lead coach at Wycombe Performance Centre in Cressex, will be lining up alongside his girlfriend Lauren Smith for just the second time – the first being last year’s National Championships when they were runners-up.

But the 25-year-old is not getting carried away in the build-up to the competition at the University of Derby’s Sports Centre, which takes place between February 5 and 7.

While Smith is first in the English rankings in the women’s doubles, Fox no longer plays full-time and has low expectations for both the mixed doubles and men’s doubles, when he will compete with Dean George.

Fox said: “Last year we got to the finals in the mixed which was a big surprise so this year I am not sure because it depends on which draw you get.

“If I get to the quarter-finals then I will be happy. Anything could happen – I could get knocked out in the first round but I wouldn’t mind.

“Last year was the first time we had played doubles together so it was interesting but I enjoyed it – although that is probably because we did well.

“We get on quite well on court and we know what the other one is going to do.”

While Fox is relaxed about the National Championships, he has had to think long and hard about whether to have an operation to fix a heart problem.

Fox has atrial fibrillation, a condition which results in his heart beat becoming excessively fast and erratic when he plays the sport.

He had an operation in February 2014 designed to cure the problem but it failed and has put off having another procedure as it would mean a spell out of the sport, both competitively and also from his day job.

But after much deliberation, Fox said: “I am thinking I want to get the operation done, hopefully at the end of the summer.

“It is the early stages so nothing has been guaranteed but I want to get it done so I can hopefully then forget about it.

“If I am out of the sport then it should only be for a month so hopefully I will be able to play next season.”

Fox was speaking after he and Birmingham Lions team-mate Koen Ridder lost 9-5, 2-9, 7-9, 7-9 to Team Derby’s Andy Ellis and Chris Coles in the AJ Bell National Badminton League on Monday night, although his side did go on to win the match 3-2 to remain unbeaten this season.

Fox added: “It was a bit frustrating. We started quite slow and we were lucky to win the first game with a couple of lucky net cords and then in the second and third games we were doubting ourselves a bit and not playing the right game – sitting too far back in the court.

“We only started playing the right style in the fourth when we were coming from behind so we need to try to get that from the start.”

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