It’s been an emotional roller-coaster for the Ellis family from Huddersfield, but they are praying it ends in an Olympic bronze-medal celebration today.

Parents John and Sheila Ellis and their eldest son James will be cheering on badminton star Marcus in a vital play-off for Great Britain in the Rio Games.

The 26-year-old Ellis and men’s doubles partner Chris Langridge lost their semi-final clash against hard-hitting Chinese duo Haifeng Fu and Nan Zhang, who sealed their place in the gold-medal match with a 21-14, 21-18 victory.

It means Ellis and Langridge now face another pairing from China, Wei Hong and Biao Chai, for the bronze (at around 3.00pm).

“We feel like we’ve been put through an old-fashioned mangle – it’s not been easy being here and watching on TV,” said Sheila, 59, from Bolster Moor.

“Although Marcus and Chris went to Rio with a great deal of hope, they have far, far exceeded what they expected, played out of this world and done brilliantly.

“Marcus texted to say he felt sad after they lost, but I told him he’d nothing to feel sad about having reached an Olympic semi-final!

The Ellis family of Bolster Moor get ready to cheer on Marcus Ellis in his Rio Olympics Badminton bronze medal game, pictured dad John, mum Sheila and Brother James.

“We are all so pleased that they’ve got so far and done so well, and the worst fear would be for them to have achieved so much and to come back with nothing – but we all believe they can turn it on again, play well and, fingers crossed, get the reward they deserve.”

Ellis and Langridge (31, from Epsom) are ranked 22nd in the world and did remarkably well even to qualify for Rio, where only the top 16 partnerships from across the globe are involved.

Since losing the opening group game against the strong Danish pairing of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, who reached the final at London 2012, Ellis and Langridge have beaten Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang of South Korea, the Polish duo Przemyslaw Wacha and Adam Cwalina and, in the quarter-finals, Japan’s Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa.

Their loss to Fu and Zhang was against the No4 pairing in the world, but they still scored 14 and 18 and showed terrific fighting spirit.

“They seemed to prevent Marcus and Chris from getting going, it was like they’d worked them out,” said Sheila.

“There wasn’t a point where the Chinese really let them rally, but hopefully they will have had a rethink and I’m sure the coaches will have come up with a diffent plan to tackle this next pairing from China.

“I’m always nervous watching, but it’s been great up to the semi-final, which wasn’t so joyful, and I just want them to play well.

Great Britain's Chris Langridge (left) and Marcus Ellis take on China's HF Fu and N Zhang during the men's badminton quarter finals

“It’s been an emotional ride and it would be fantastic if they could come back with that medal. It will be very hard to take if they don’t, but they couldn’t have done any more and, hopefully, it will go well in this final match.”

The family, who have a property rental business – John is a joiner by trade and Sheila does the admin – have been inundated with texts and messages of good luck.

“I don’t think a lot of people have realised until now just how good badminton is and how good Marcus is,” she added.

“Whatever happens, this exposure can only be good for Marcus and his career and the Olympics has been fantastic for him and for Chris.

“Only a couple of years ago, Chris thought his chance of ever appearing at the Games had gone, but the pair of them have put in a very hard 12 months of work to get the qualifying points they needed – playing events every other week to score what they could – and to end up in that top 16 was just a marvellous achievement in itself.

The Ellis family of Bolster Moor get ready to cheer on Marcus Ellis in his Olympic badminton bronze medal game, pictured brother James, mum Sheila and dad John.

“Marcus was just so happy to have got there, to be at an Olympics, and we lived off that for a few weeks until the team was finally confirmed, and when they went to Rio they just wanted to put in some good performances.

“I think they’ve shown they do have a very good understanding and a lot of people have been surprised by that, because they were put together only a couple of years ago but it’s worked, but the way they’ve played and what they’ve done has just been fantastic.”