Great Britain, featuring Shropshire Olympian Alison Williamson, came agonisingly close to claiming bronze in the women’s team event at the London Classic at Lord’s.

Having seen off world champions Italy in the first round of the London 2012 test event and beaten seconds seeds Chinese Taipei in the quarter-final, the hosts were then comfortably beaten by China in the last four.

That still left the chance of a podium finish with a bronze medal match against Japan but it was not to be as they went down 206-200 following a disappointing final end.

Having watched their male counterparts exit in the first knockout round at the home of cricket on Tuesday, the pressure was on Church Stretton’s Alison Williamson, Amy Oliver and Naomi Folkard to deliver.

They were pitted against a strong Italian side in their opening match but led from the first end to the last to claim a 203-201 win.

They then defeated a Chinese Taipei trio whose ranking shoot of 1903 dwarfed their own combined effort of 1861 – and earned them second seed behind eventual gold medalists South Korea – 208-200.

Silver medalists China proved just too strong for Williamson, Folkard and Oliver in the semi-final, cruising to a 218-203 success, but bronze would have been a triumph for a team with a world ranking of 13th and it came desperately close to becoming a reality.

At the halfway stage scores were tied at 103-103 and going into the last three arrows a score of 25 from 30 would have tied the match.

As it was they could only manage 19, with a rare three spoiling their scorecard and denying the trio a medal.

Archery GB performance director Sara Symington was pleased with making the last four but admitted the team were frustrated at missing out in the medal match.

“All the archers had to deal with windy conditions, and our three turned in some fantastic performances. Ultimately they missed out on a medal, but getting so far can be taken as a real positive,” said Symington.

“We are all really disappointed, none more so than Alison, Amy and Naomi, but they’ve had a fantastic day and can hold their heads up high.”