Once John recovered, the pair quickly became one of the top pairs in the United Kingdom, winning numerous county events, Friends Provident Grand Slam Series events and reaching the 1995 National Championships men's doubles final, losing to Chris Hunt & Simon Archer.

[2] The pair were in the GB Olympic squad and set for Olympic qualification for the Atlanta Games in 1996, but Neil was hit with a virus linked to over training which left him unable to train or compete for the six months prior to the games, leaving their participation impossible.

Neil retired from full-time badminton in August 1996 and became a lecturer in Sport & Exercise Science in North Wales.

The Welsh Badminton Union secured Neil's services to head up their High Performance Centre in North Wales and after working for the WBU for a few years, Neil teamed up with then National coach Chris Rees in the men's doubles at the Welsh Nationals, where they won the event from 1999 to 2002.

During this time he completed an MSc in Exercise & Nutrition Science and specialises in Dietary Analysis and Training and Recovery.