Louis Smith won silver on the pommel horse in Rotterdam

Louis Smith admits he must find a way of bettering Krisztian Berki if he is to ever win a top pommel horse title.

Peterborough gymnast Smith, 21, took silver behind the Hungarian at the World Championships in Rotterdam earlier this month.

The result mirrored the outcome of the European Championships in Milan 19 months ago.

Smith told BBC Look East: "I think if I'm going beat Krisztian Berki I will need to improve my difficulty."

Berki squeezed out Olympic bronze-medalist Smith by 0.10 points at the World's.

"He's always managing to just pip me to the top and I was praying when I landed my routine that it might be the one time I get in front of him," Smith added.

"But I'm working on even more special routines with more difficulty and I'll be saving that for the build up to 2012."

Despite taking gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and bronze in Beijing, Smith has yet to finish on top at a major international gymnastic event.

His Huntingdon Gymnastics Club coach Paul Hall feels London 2012 could be his time to shine.

"Bronze a couple of years ago, silver now, who knows what's going to happen in the next 24 months," Hall said.

"He's progressing up the ranks and I think he's doing a great job in keeping us on tenterhooks for that elusive gold, hopefully, in London."

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