February 26, 2024
Dan Bethel won the silver medal at the BWF Para-Badminton World Championships in Thailand, his first world medal since 2019.
The current No. 1 in the men’s SL3 world rankings was aiming for his first world title, but fell short, losing to India’s Pramod Bhagat 14-21, 21-15, 21-14 in the final.
Bethel fought through the group matches in Pattaya and faced Australia’s Kenneth Adrawan in the round of 16 with a dominant performance of 21-1, 21-5.
For Bethel, who entered high-intensity knockout badminton, his toughest battle in the championship so far came in the semi-finals against India’s Kumar Nitesh.
After winning the first match, the Paralympic silver medalist was forced into the third match, but ultimately won 21-18, 20-22, 21-14 and claimed the spoils.
🥈 Silver medal for Dan Bethel who lost to Pramod Bhagat 🇮🇳 in an incredibly close race 💔 💪 👏
➡️ All eyes on Paris 2024 🔥 🔥 #ParaWorld Championship pic.twitter.com/5DTJQa5BUg
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) February 25, 2024
With victory in the semi-finals, Bethel faced Bhagat in an exact replica of the 2019 World Championship and 2020 Tokyo Paralympic finals, and a battle for the ages began.
The Englishman got off to a strong start by winning the first game 21-14, but the tide soon turned and Bhagat won the last two games 21-15, 21-14 to clinch the title.
The silver medal was Bethel’s third at the World Singles Championships, following silver in 2019 and bronze in 2015.
In addition, Kristen Coombs faced Rachel Chung in the men’s and women’s SH6 singles quarterfinals.
Coombs was on the back foot in the first match against France’s Charles Noakes, but managed to score the third goal in a close contest.
The Paralympic bronze medalist ultimately lost 21-13, 20-22, 21-13.
Meanwhile, Chun made good progress in her round of 16 matches, but lost her spot to China’s Fengmei Li in the semifinals.
In the men’s doubles WH1-WH2, Owen Kilburn and Gobi Ranganathan achieved a group stage victory over Czech Republic’s Lukas Kinkle and Kamil Snajjar.
Ranganathan was paired with Heidi Manninen in the mixed doubles group stage, while Sharon Jones-Burns competed in the women’s WH1 singles and doubles.