British badminton pair target Olympic medal

Ben Lane (left) and Sean Vendy are heading for their second Olympic Games

Team GB badminton players Ben Lane and Sean Vendy say they can cause an upset at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The pair will represent Great Britain in the men's doubles for second successive games, having failed to win a match in Tokyo three years ago.

But the pair have since gone on to win silver at the Commonwealth Games and the European Games.

The pair recently won the Swiss Open and are ranked in the top 10 for the Olympics, which begin in July.

"The year started off quite tough and then we won the Swiss Open, which was a big confidence booster," Lane, 26, told BBC Sport.

"I think we've beaten every pair competing at the games bar one pair, so we know that if we're playing well, we're confident and things go our way then we can definitely cause upsets.

"I think we're going in as the ninth pair, so we're not seeded but we won the Swiss Open, beat three pairs ranked higher than us, so we are definitely capable of beating these pairs and producing a result in Paris."

Exmouth's Lane, 26, and 28-year-old Vendy have been playing together since they were juniors and are coached by 2004 mixed doubles silver medallist Nathan Robertson.

"Every day I look back and I'm like 'how far have we come?," says Vendy, who has won back-to-back European Championship bronze medals.

"It just seems mad because we started playing together when we were 12 and since then we've come on leaps and bounds really.

"We've got silver at Commonwealths, which is a similar kind of thing, a silver at the European Games multisport event.

"I think Tokyo was our first multisport event, so it was more of an experience kind of thing and it was quite different,

"But I feel like we've got that experience under our belt now and we're in good stead."

Having experienced a delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo with no crowds due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Lane is hopeful that a games in Paris will be able to evoke memories of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham two years ago.

"Paris being so close I know both of our families are coming out to Paris to watch, so hopefully it feels like a home games," says Lane.

"Obviously Birmingham was amazing, my mum came to every match we played, and just to have friends, family in the crowd it definitely helps you.

"Although you're focused on the match you can always see them if there's a little break in play or something happens, and you can see your parents there which is a really nice feeling when you're competing."