Bethell claims 4 Nations glory in Glasgow

Dan Bethell grabbed 4 Nations Para Badminton glory in Glasgow following a brilliant performance in the final.

The Tokyo 2020 silver medallist met India’s Kumar Nitesh in the SL3 men’s singles showpiece and earned gold following a 21-11 21-7 win.

En route to Sunday’s final, Bethell overcame four opponents, all in two games, which included a 21-9 21-11 quarter-final victory against Umesh Vikram Kumar.

That set up a meeting with Oleksandr Chyrkov in the semi-final and Bethell came out on top 21-9 21-7.

The win means the European champion is perfectly poised for a Paris tilt as he looks to upgrade his silver medal from Tokyo.

Bethell said: “I felt really good this week. I’ve worked hard in these last few months and feel like my game is in a really good place.

“I’ve got a week off now to recharge but I’m looking forward to getting back on court and preparing for Paris.”

Elsewhere, Krysten Coombs made it as far as the SH6 semi-finals before losing out to Krishna Nagar 12-21 22-24 in two hard-fought games.

Coombs met compatriot Jack Shephard in the quarter-finals and the pair played out a three-game thriller which Coombs came out on top of, winning 21-18 16-21 22-20.

It was a similar story for Rachel Choong, who met Peruvian Guiliana Poveda Flores in the semi-finals, eventually succumbing to a 15-21 10-21 defeat.

And Choong and Shephard, ranked No. 1 in the world as an SH6 mixed doubles pairing, also made it to the last four, where they were beaten 22-24 20-22 in a thriller against India’s Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan.