Brilliant Bethell clinches semi-final spot

Dan Bethell is not getting complacent after he sealed his spot in the semi-finals of the men’s singles at Paris 2024.

The 28-year-old is currently undefeated in Paris, having won all three of his group matches in the men’s SL3 singles and is now just one win away from a second Paralympic medal.

The Brit won ParalympicsGB’s very first-ever badminton medal with silver in Tokyo and stormed through his last group game in Paris with a clinical 21-5 21-5 victory over Oleksandr Chyrkov of Ukraine to put himself in contention for more history.

And Bethell is not quiet in expressing his desire for gold in the French capital, believing that he is playing the best badminton he ever has.

“It’s just an honour to be at the Paralympics so to get to the semi-finals and to be within a shot of a medal again is fantastic.

“But I can’t get complacent here, the job is not to just get to the semi-final I want that gold medal so it’s all about going back, sticking to my plans and recovering now.

“I feel like I’m playing some of the best badminton of my career and getting there at the right time.

“I’m loving it more than anything, playing in front of the crowd is amazing and it’s a privilege to be out there and doing that.”

Bethell, who is the current world number two, has been undefeated for the majority of the past year, only falling in his world championship final against the man who also beat him to gold at Tokyo 2020, India’s Pramod Bhagat.

But with Pramod not contending at Paris and with three emphatic victories to his name at La Chapelle Arena, yet to drop a set, Bethell will be hoping that this is the chance for him to finally clinch at long-awaited gold and make his Paralympic dreams come true.

“I feel really good, I just wanted to go out there in the last group game at getting going looking forward to the semi-finals,” he said.

“It’s the same as the other two matches, I wanted to be solid and stick to my game plan and I’m really happy with that result and to get through in the manner I did.”