Sam and Chloe Magee were beaten by Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matstomo in the last 16 of the mixed doubles at the All England Championships on Thursday evening.
The Japanese pair won the opening game in Birmingham 21-16, before the Magees levelled it up by taking the second game 21-19.
In a tense decider decider the Irish siblings lost 21-13.
It was a positive tournament for the duo however, with the last-32 defeat of world number 11-ranked Malaysian pairing Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie a real highlight,
They'll head for the Orleans Masters in France next week in good spirits.
Earlier Nhat Nguyen also exited at the last-16 stage, losing to Dutchman Mark Caljouw.
On Wednesday he produced an excellent performance to beat world number 13 Srikanth Kidambi.
