We said goodbye to the Torvill and Dean of badminton yesterday. And just as your interest in figure skating has probably not been the same since the Bolero, it may be a long wait for the next Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson, a pair who have done so much for their sport with skill and charisma.

A comprehensive quarter-final defeat by the South Korea pair of Lee Hyo Jung and Lee Yong Dae brought retirement for Emms, who sobbed through a succession of post-match interviews.

If we are honest, she had a stinker in the 21-19, 21-12 loss, but her playful sense of humour still managed to peep through the misery. “Is it true you are now going to start a family?” she was asked. She looked around the packed hall, to the stands where her boyfriend was sitting. “What,” she said, “in here?”

She leaves Robertson weighing up whether to soldier on until London 2012, but he looked, and spoke, a bit like a man who has lost his true love and wonders if any relationship will ever be as good. As a mixed doubles pairing, they had been together for seven years, longer than many marriages.

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Why didn't they ring me up before they decided to hold the Olympic Games in Beijing in August? Don't do it, I'd have said

Simon Barnes

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In the end, their silver medal in Athens four years ago was as good as it got for a couple who became popular beyond their sport not only because they were among the best in the world, but also because they seemed so happy in each other's company. Television liked them and, for a while post-Athens, they were rarely off our screens.

With its long rallies, and changes of speed from feathery drop shots to 200mph smashes, badminton can be among the most thrilling of Olympic events. But at 31, Emms has had enough of a sport that has given her a decent living, if hardly a lucrative one.

She had decided that she would stop whatever the outcome in Beijing. “We won a World Championship, Europeans and silver at Athens in the Olympics,” she said. “I am so proud of what we achieved, of representing my country, being an Olympian. I've loved every second of it.”

It all came to an end in a university gym in China with a roof designed like a shuttlecock. A forehand from Robertson dropped tamely wide and he wandered over to wrap a long arm around his partner. Not long after came the river of tears.

They had played with the crowd on their side, including the Princess Royal, but never looked comfortable against the Koreans. Down 20-15 in the first game, they rallied back to 20-19, but there was to be no reprise of their heroics against Gao Ling and Zheng Bo, the Chinese favourites, in the previous round.

Perhaps their only hope was when Lee Hyo Jung, the female Korean, who was more than six inches taller than Emms, landed in a heap on the side of the court. “I was thinking, 'Please don't get up,' ” Emms said, caught between laughing and weeping. The Britain pair were briefly ahead in the second game at 10-8, but lost 11 of the next 12 points. The Koreans had learnt to target Emms, who made a succession of unforced errors, perhaps as it dawned upon her that these were to be the last minutes of her professional career.

Robertson later speculated about the legality of their female opponent's serve - delivered above the waist, allegedly - but neither Briton could dispute that they were comprehensively outplayed. “It's gutting because I know we can play better,” Emms said. “I wanted to go out on a high. I didn't want to go out like this.”

Whether Robertson, also 31, chooses to continue, and with whom, will be revealed in the next couple of months, but, if there is a fresh wave of medal prospects in his sport, they did not show themselves in Beijing. All Britain's competitors have been knocked out.

“Nathan is an amazing talent,” Emms said. “He is the Roger Federer of badminton, he is so naturally gifted. And he can help bring up the next generation.”

Robertson had reason to curse his partner's contribution yesterday, but when he said he would sorely miss her, he meant it.