22 May, 2023
Rachel Choong, Jack Shephard and Krysten Coombs all saw their respective Bahrain Para Badminton International campaigns come to an end during Sunday’s quarter-final matches.
Seeded second in the women’s SH6 singles draw, Choong’s campaign started with a defeat to China’s Li Fengmei in pool action.
However, the English star bounced back, with an impressive win over Cai Yi-Lin ensuring her progression to the knockout stages in Manama.
Choong faced Chinese Taipei’s Yu Yen-Wu in the round of 16, and prevailed 21-6 21-11 to set-up a rematch against Fengmei in the last eight.
However it was once again the Chinese who was victorious, picking up a 21-10 21-12 victory to end Choong’s singles campaign.
Elsewhere, Jack Shephard started his campaign in emphatic fashion, with the second seed securing comfortable victories over Brazil’s Marcio Dellafina and China’s Lin Naili in the men’s SH6 singles pool stage.
Those victories saw him safely reach the last eight stage, where he was drawn against India’s Krishna Nagar.
And it was the Indian who sealed a last four spot, delivering a sublime performance to defeat Shephard 21-15 21-8 and end the Englishman’s singles campaign.
Shepherd and Choong were also in mixed doubles action in Manama, seeded second in the draw.
The duo’s campaign started with a three-game loss to Fengmei and Naili, the Chinese pair prevailing 14-21 21-18 21-13.
However they responded impressively with a 21-5 21-5 triumph versus Wong Chun Yim and Lam Ching Yung to ensure progression into the knockout stages, with Zeng Qingtao and Lin Shuangbao waiting in the quarter-final.
Ultimately the Chinese pairing had too much for Shephard and Choong, winning 21-15 21-13 to end the English campaign.
Alongside Shephard, Coombs was also in SH6 men’s singles action in Bahrain, having been handed a position as one of the top four seeds.
Coombs was particularly impressive in his pool stage matches, defeating Peru’s Nilton Quispe Ignacio and Iraq’s Emad Adil Al Dhawahir in style to ensure a safe passage into the knockout stages.
In the elimination rounds, he received a round of 16 bye but his campaign then came to an end in a hard-fought quarter-final contest against Naili, the Chinese battling his way to a 19-21 21-19 21-17 victory.
Also in action were a handful of pathway players, with Sean O’Sullivan impressing while in action at the tournament.
In the SU5 singles category, O’Sullivan battled past Azerbaijan’s Ibrahim Aliyev 21-17 21-23 21-15 in his opening match before a convincing win against Peru’s Jairo Aranguri Castaneda.
He then impressed despite a 21-16 21-18 defeat to seeded Indian opponent Ruthick Ragupathi in his final pool stage match, though had done enough to reach the knockout stages.
O’Sullivan tasted defeat to Bartłomiej Mroz in the round of 16, though there were plenty of positives for him to take.
In SL3 action William Smith also picked up an impressive victory over Deada Jean Yves Yao in his opening pool matches, while he also put in positive performances in losses to Joo Dongjae and Manoj Sarkar.
And David Follet made the knockout stages of the WH1 men’s singles competition, putting on an encouraging display against Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli in a 21-7 21-14 loss.
Owen Kilburn and Gobi Ranganathan were also in action, with all of the pathway players gaining valuable experience.
Full information on results and draw information from Bahrain can be found here.
