Ellis 'lost desire' around Olympics

Ellis had high hopes of reaching the Olympics in the men's doubles with Chris Adcock only to fall one place shy of the top 16 eligible pairs when the yearlong qualification period ended in May.

The 25-year-old and Adcock were listed as reserves for the Games and, while his partner played in the mixed doubles competition with fellow world silver medallist Imogen Bankier, Ellis could only watch on in frustration.

Ellis has paid little attention to the affect not playing at the Olympics has had on his ranking although he has been competing, even forming a new mixed doubles partnership with Jenny Wallwork.

In their six tournaments since the Olympics ended, Ellis and Adcock have reached the best of a semi-final at the Bitburger Open but he believes improving their world ranking is of growing importance.

"Since we missed out on London I haven't really paid much attention to the rankings to be honest. They didn't really matter in the wake of us not qualifying," said Ellis, who lies 24th with Adcock.

"I know a few pairs have moved above us since we didn't go but we've beaten them before so I don't pay too much attention to the rankings currently, but we will need to start doing so soon.

"I always look to break down the season and have mini targets. An eye will be on the Commonwealth Games. I want to win there with Chris and push for medals with Jenny if we are still together.

"In terms of looking ahead to the next Olympics in Rio in 2016, Chris and I have to be back in the top 15 in the world so we need to start being consistent.

"And Chris and I have been showing we are a top 15 pairing with our results over the last two years so I don't think it's too big an ask."

While Ellis' partnership with Adcock is tried and tested, his relationship with Wallwork is all new and comes after a shake up by GB Badminton following London 2012.

With Wallwork's previous partner, Olympic silver medallist Nathan Robertson, retiring after they too failed to make the Games, she and Ellis were placed together.

They won the Polish International together back in September, before GB Badminton's official announcement, although their progress has been set back since.

"We've been a bit hampered by Jenny getting an injury, which was frustrating because we won our first tournament before she was sidelined," he added.

"So we haven't trained together as much as we would have liked. As a result we don't have a ranking and that makes big tournaments more difficult because we have more matches to play."