Lauren Smith was left wondering what might have been after bowing out of the TOTAL BWF World Championships in Glasgow, but was quick to pinpoint where improvements need to be made.

The Carlisle badminton star and, women’s doubles partner Sarah Walker, had entered their tie with Korean fifth seeds Jung Kyung Eun and Shin Seung Chan brimming with confidence following their straight sets defeat of German opposition in Monday’s opening round.

The first set proved a big lesson for them, though. Jung and Shin dominating proceedings to show fans a glimmer of the form that saw them win Olympic bronze in Rio last summer.

Smith, from Longtown, and Walker were quick to find their feet in the second, however, taking the lead on multiple occasions within the opening stages to up the challenge on their opponents across the net.

But ultimately, Jung and Shin proved too strong, running out 21-10 21-14 victors as Smith and Walker departed Glasgow’s Emirates Arena earlier than hoped.

The English duo are determined to learn from the experience though, and 25-year-old Smith insists they can’t go home too heavy-hearted.

“It took us a set to settle into the level needed,” said the Rio 2016 Olympian.

“We did have patches where we competed with them in terms of style, and we got the game going as much as we could in the middle of the second set.

“At the moment, the frustrating thing is that we have the level, we’re just not keeping it. That’s part of the learning curve but we were dipping in and out of concentration.

“We need to reflect on that in training and take everything we can from that match. We don’t play pairs like them very often so there is a lot we can get from it.

“We’d watched them and we knew what sort of style they had, and we knew we could play a game that would trouble them.

“We saw that in patches, but we knew it was a big ask. We’re always hungry to win.”

Smith and Walker will remain in Glasgow for the remainder of the World Championships, eager to take full advantage of the experience and learn from the world’s finest shuttlers.

But that doesn’t mean they’ll be enjoying a well-earned rest just yet, with tournaments in Belgium and the Czech Republic, as well as the English Nationals, on the agenda over the coming weeks.

“We need to take every experience and learn from it,” Smith added.

“We’ve played together for maybe eight months now and we’ve gone from strength-to-strength.

“We’ve done that by making sure that, after every game we’ve lost, we’ve analysed it and learned from it.

“We’ve had that focus in training and that’s where I think we’re quite strong as a pair.

“We’ll keep going in the right direction.”

The TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017 is being staged at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena from 21-27 August.

It is being delivered by BADMINTONscotland in partnership with Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council and with funding support from EventScotland and The National Lottery through UK Sport. Tickets available at www.glasgow2017.com/tickets