Bethell and Coombs to contest badminton knockout matches

Daniel Bethell joined Krysten Coombs in being in contention for a Paralympic medal after progressing to badminton’s SL3 knockout stages.

Bethell saw off Indonesia’s Ukun Rukaendi in straight games which, adding to his opening-day win on Wednesday, was enough to qualify for Saturday’s semi-finals.

One victory in his remaining two knockout matches would guarantee himself a maiden Games medal but he is keen not to get ahead of himself at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

“It went well. I have played Ukun quite a few times now, and he is a very good athlete, with great defence, the rallies go on for a long time,” said Bethell, who plays Manoj Sarkar for a place in the gold-medal match.

“So I was expecting that but felt I had a really good game plan going in. I felt I executed it really well, so I am really pleased with the result.

“I am just looking forward to getting back on court.”

Bethell is one of two ParalympicsGB athletes in semi-final action with Coombs joining him, despite not taking to the court on Friday.

He finished second in SH6 Group A after teammate Jack Shephard – who Coombs beat in the two players’ opening match – overcame Hong Kong’s Man Kai Chu 2-1.

Coombs faces India’s Krishna Nagar in the semi-final, looking to be one of the first medallists in badminton on its Paralympic debut.

The victory wasn’t enough for Shephard to qualify for the last four but he remained upbeat following his second outing in Tokyo.

“It was exciting today. I really enjoyed it, I played well,” he said.

“There was a bit of a patch where I didn’t quite play tactically right, but other than that I played some of my best badminton that I’ve come into this tournament doing.

“It’s just a shame I couldn’t do it yesterday but I’m glad I was able to put an end to that and do that today.”

Martin Rooke also reached the knockout stages but he was unable to go any further in the WH2 event.

The 48-year-old had earlier lost out to China’s Mai Jianpeng in Group B but his opening-day win over Dumnern Junthong was enough for him to progress.

But Hong Kong’s Chan Ho Yuen proved to be his undoing, going down 21-9 21-11 in the quarter-final.