Great Yarmouth's Devon Minnis may be young in years but she's shown she can battle it out on the big stage after plotting a course to the quarter-finals at the English National Badminton Championships.

And the East Norfolk College student is not about to let the pace drop after revelling in the limelight at stadium:mk in Milton Keynes last weekend. Minnis and doubles partner Nicola Gresty navigated their way past the first two rounds and came up against fellow under-17 internationals Ira Banerjee and Jessica Pugh in the final eight.

A closely-fought match ended in defeat by a score of 21-18 21-17 but, with a huge tournament under the newly-formed pairing's belt, Minnis insists the best is yet to come.

'It was really good, I was looking forward to the whole arena and the experience, we're only 16 so it was nice to play in it – we're a new partnership as well,' she said.

'We've played a couple of under-17 internationals together but we've only played three English tournaments so far so it's not bad.

'I played last year but I was a reserve and when someone pulled out I'd never played with my partner before, it was a good experience but we lost first round.

'Looking at the draw I thought we had a good chance but getting this far is still a really good achievement for us.'

And though next weekend's under-19 nationals may be a comedown from her senior adventure, Minnis admits there is no rush in stepping up to the seniors.

'At the under-19 nationals we're just hoping to do our best, there are a lot of good pairs,' she added.

'Then Europeans are coming up in the under-17s too, I'm involved in the England programme and played seven times now so it's good fun.

'I've still got three more years at juniors so I can take my time in the seniors at the moment.'

- Tickets for the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships at the NIA in Birmingham are available at www.allenglandbadminton.com or call the box office on 0844 444 9994.