WORCESTER badminton ace Simon Archer is pleased with his progress with partner Robert Blair despite their efforts in the Yonex German Open ending in the quarter-finals.

Archer and Blair crashed out of the tournament at Rhein-Ruhr Halle in Duisburg when they lost 15/3, 11/15, 5/15 to Japanese pair Sho Sasaki and Shoji Sato.

It was all the more disappointing for the England duo after they had led 11-7 in the second set and were only four points away from a semi-final place.

Archer, 31, admits that both himself and Blair felt jaded in the tussle following a gruelling three weeks which had also seen them reach the last eight of the Danish Open and semi-finals of the Dutch Open.

However, Archer believes the partnership is heading in the right direction, proved when they dumped world champions and number one seeds Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen out of the German Open.

Archer said: "We are not too disappointed with how things have gone. Apart from one poor game, I'm more than happy with the way we have played over the last few weeks.

"We are looking very good as a pair and we are very athletic. We have only been a pair for about 12 months but the partnership is growing in strength all the time.

"I felt we could have beaten the Japanese pair. We were leading 12-1 in the first game and we let them back into it. We did the same when we were up 11-7 in the second. I think both of us were a bit jaded.

"Robert was also a little bit casual as well and it's not often I say that. It then gave the opposition a sniff and they took their chance. Robert is only 22 and it was a hard lesson for him, but he will improve in time."

Archer and Blair return to action next month in grand prix tournaments in Singapore and China.