Badminton: Johnson's nightmare journey leads to rapid exit

Elena Johnson's debut in the 40th English National Championships overshadowed England's rift with the International Badminton Federation over which scoring system to use at the tournament.

The 17-year-old Guernsey No 1 spent 20 hours trying to get to the tournament at Burgess Hill, West Sussex – only to lose in the women's singles first round in just 15 minutes.

Johnson, who fell to Yorkshire's Julie Pike 11-2, 11-0, had set off on Thursday evening to fly from Guernsey to Gatwick. Bad weather saw them circle the airport for an hour before being eventually forced to return to Guernsey. "The organisers put back my match but I didn't really have time to warm up properly," she said. "I could have played better but it was all such a rush."

The real shock of the day saw Avon's Nicholas Kidd, the No 7 seed, beaten 15-12, 15-4 by Surrey's Toby Honey.