CHORLEY teenager Bradley Smith has missed out on a place in the World Championships in Manchester, which started yesterday, after falling at the first hurdle in qualifying.

Smith, 17, was beaten by Malaysian Muhammad Asyraf 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 in 31 minutes.

But despite the defeat the East Lancashire star was taking heart from his performance against a more experienced opponent.

Smith said: “It was so different to what I am used to playing. He was unorthodox and he broke up the pace really well.

“He was really attacking and I struggled to get it deep a few times, which would have helped me.

“I am always disappointed when losing. But it is a great experience for me and to play different players, especially at this venue.

“I perhaps needed to stick to my game more and maybe the outcome might have been different for me.

“He never managed to get into a rhythm. Patches where I could do what I wanted to do went well though, which I’m happy about.

“These are the types of people and players that I will come across on the tour and I will have to learn from this.”

And Smith did enough to impress England’s national squash coach Chris Rovbertson who believes he has a talented future in the game.

“He has been competitive and definitely earned his qualifying spot out there. His performance was exactly what we were looking for from our 17-year-olds,” said Robertson.

Smith is coached by Chorley’s Danny Massaro.