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This season's AJ Bell National Badminton League will see twoOlympic medallists take part but they will not be the only Rio 2016 stars onshow.

Marcus Ellis , who signed for Team Derby this summer, andSurrey Smashers' Chris Langridge became Great Britain's first men's doublesbronze medallists with their victory over China's ChaiBiao and Hong Wei in Brazil.

The Brits had already exceeded expectations having arrivedin Rio ranked 22nd in the world, claiming the scalps of the third and eighthranked pairs.

And they went on to reach the semi-final stage before losingout to China's eventual winners Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan.

Their 21-18 19-21 21-10 victory over Chai and Hong saw themclaim the UK's first Olympic badminton medal since NathanRobertson and Gail Emms took mixed doubles silver in 2004.

What a day! Couldn't be more proud of what we have achieved in Rio. Thank you everyone for your kind messages!!

I am still in shock, I'm not sure when it will sink in, Olympic bronze medalist. love you all

One of those beaten by Ellis and Langridge in the groupstages was University of Nottingham's Adam Cwalina .

The Poland international and his partner Przemyslaw Wachamay not have claimed a win in Brazil but they gave a good account of themselvesin their matches against the British pair, South Korea's Kim Gi Jung and Kim SaRang, and Denmark's London 2012 silver medallists Mathias Boe and CarstenMogensen.

Another who surpassed expectations was Team Derby captain Rajiv Ouseph .

Ouseph became the first British man to reach the last eightof the Olympic badminton men's competition when he defeated Indonesia's TommySugiarto 21-13 14-21 21-16 in the round of 16.

That set up a quarter-final clash with Denmark's ViktorAxelsen, the European champion, and despite losing 21-12 21-16 to the eventualbronze medallist, it was an unforgettable competition for the 29-year-old.

Not to be today, but I'm still proud to get to an Olympic quarterfinal. Thanks to every single person for their support, I'm truly humbled.

— Rajiv Ouseph (@rajivouseph)

Sweden's Henri Hurskainen was another to compete in themen's singles and he picked up his first victory in the Olympic Games, havingalso competed at London 2012, by beating Mexico's Lino Munoz 21-12 21-11.

The Loughborough Lightning shuttler was unable to qualifyout of his group though after defeat to India's quarter-finalist SrikanthKidambi.

There was also a win in the women's singles for new SurreySmashers star Line Kjaersfeldt , with the Denmark international beatingFinland's Nanna Vainio 21-9 21-8, before holding her own against eventualchampion Carolina Marin, who won 21-16 21-13.

Her Surrey Smashers team-mate Gabby Adcock and University ofNottingham's Chris were unable to reach the knock-out stages despite beatingfourth seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen.

Just want to say a huge thank you for all the support we've received over these last few weeks, it means a lot.

— Chris Adcock (@ChrisAdcock1)

...but deep down im still proud of our performance here. This is just the start for me & Gabs, & I promise we will come back stronger.

— Chris Adcock (@ChrisAdcock1)

The Adcocks had pushed London 2012 silver medallists Xu Chenand Ma Jin all the way before beating the Danes and held match points in thedeciding second game with Poland's Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba, beforeeventually going down 18-21 27-25 21-9 to exit the competition.

And Birmingham Lions' Heather Olver and Lauren Smith , ofTeam Derby, finished their Rio 2016 campaign on a high as they beat Hong Kongpair of Poon Lok Yan and Tse Ying Suet 21-17 18-21 21-16.

Tight losses in their opening two fixtures had meant the women'spair couldn't qualify for the knockout stages but that didn't stop the Britsfrom producing an accomplished display in their final contest.