Marshfield para-badminton star Dan Bethell won the second silver medal of his Paralympic Games career as he was narrowly edged out in a dramatic men’s SL3 singles final.

An absorbing encounter saw Bethell recover from losing the opening game, and come back from 19-16 down in the decisive third game before saving a match point to serve for the gold medal at 21-20.

However, opponent Kumar Nitesh of India managed to finally overcome his resistance and take the next three points to secure a 21-14 18-21 23-21 success.

It meant Bethell had to settle for silver at La Chapelle Arena in Paris, emulating his historic achievement at the rescheduled Tokyo Games in 2021 where he won Britain’s first-ever para-badminton medal at the Paralympics.

He was determined to go for gold this time and lost just 30 points during his three Group B games before beating Thailand’s Mongkhon Bunson 21-7 21-9 in Sunday’s semi-final to guarantee himself a second Paralympic medal.

Monday’s final was dominated by long rallies – one of which was 122 shots – and saw Bethell lose the opening game 21-14 and trail 18-17 during an incredibly tense second game before brilliantly winning four points in a row to set up a third-game decider.

There was no let-up in the drama as Bethell twice fought back from 17-12 and 19-16 down to set up a match-winning opportunity but it was his opponent who eventually took the spoils.

Bethell first took up para-badminton after being inspired by the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. He made the switch from Team Bath Tennis, where he was a junior, to train with Pete Bush as part of the Team Bath Futures Talent Development Programme.

His current main training base is in Sheffield but Bethell still does his regional training at the Team Bath Sports Training Village (STV) while at his family home in Marshfield.

The 28-year-old made history three years ago when he became Paralympic GB’s first-ever para-badminton medallist with his silver in the SL3 men’s singles and has managed to follow that up by getting to the second step of the podium once again.

He said ahead of heading to Paris: “My hope is to win the gold medal, that's what I set out to do in this sport from the very beginning. Winning a silver in Tokyo was one dream fulfilled and it's amazing to be a Paralympian, now I want to upgrade the colour in Paris.”