England picked up a silver medal from the Badminton European Team Championships in Basel after a 3-1 final defeat to Denmark.
After booking a spot in the showpiece with victory over Germany, England got off to a good start against the Danes.
Team captain Rajiv Ouseph, fresh from winning his seventh-straight singles title at the English National Badminton Championships, kicked things off with victory over Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.
However Chris Adcock and Andy Ellis were unable to follow that up as they suffered a 21-17 19-21 21-14 defeat to Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe.
Toby Penty then faced a tough ask against Viktor Axelsen, ranked 85 places higher in the world, and he was well beaten 21-13 21-8 by the Dane.
That left Chris Langridge and Peter Mills needing a victory against Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding, but the duo, who played a pivotal role in the semi-final victory over Germany, went down 21-15 21-19.
Despite the final loss it was England’s first silver medal in the competition, having won bronze two years ago, and coach Jakob Hoi insists the final outcome is not to be scoffed at.
"We were here to win, but also to measure our level, and I'm proud of the silver," said Hoi.
"Being in the final gave us the opportunity to compete against the best and that's what we are here for."
© Sportsbeat 2014