Longtown badminton star Lauren Smith believes there are already promising signs from her new partnership with Chloe Birch, having won the Czech Open.

The five-time Commonwealth Games medallist and Birch beat top seeded French pairing Émilie Lefel and Anne Tran 21-14, 21-14 in the final in Brno.

“We’re really happy with the win,” Carlisle-born Smith said.

“It’s very early days in a new partnership but I think we’ve shown a lot of potential already.

“In the quarter-final, we had a tough game against a Danish pair [Freja Ravn and Amalie Magelund] that we had both lost to with other partners previously, so we were out for revenge.

“After losing the first set, we had to fight hard. We really settled into a good women’s doubles style and the confidence from winning that match really carried through the rest of the competition.

“We played European silver medallists from France in the final.

“They have been in good form recently but we really matched their pace and physicality.”

And 27-year-old Smith is hoping this victory can be the platform for further success with Birch.

“Chloe and I are both tough competitors and I believe this will be our biggest strength going forward,” she said.

“Winning the Czech Open was a great starting point for us. It felt very natural to play together.

“We have a busy schedule in October with four tournaments in four weeks in Europe.

“We are just hoping to get some more games under our belts and to compete at the top level.”

Having won two Commonwealth Games medals in 2014, former William Howard School student Smith won two more silvers and a bronze medal on the Gold Coast, Australia, this year in the women’s doubles, mixed doubles and the team event.

Smith also won European bronze this year, as well as the Canada Open, alongside mixed doubles partner Marcus Ellis.