Krysten Coombs was delighted to upgrade his men’s singles bronze to silver in the Para badminton at Paris 2024.
The 33-year-old lost to home favourite and close friend Charles Noakes in the SH6 men’s singles final 21-19 21-13.
Against a raucous French crowd, with pockets of British support, Coombs did his best to savour the occasion with Noakes also recognising his opponent’s performance among jubilant post-match celebrations.
“It was amazing,” the Totnes native said. “It obviously wasn’t the result I’d have wanted but to be out there with that crowd was incredible.
“We don’t have that in other para badminton tournaments so to be able to experience that was amazing. Near the end, I had to take it all in.
“It’s the dream. The hard work, the dedication, the years of sacrifices, not being able to do things with friends and family – to have them here tops it off.
“To have the support of ParalympicsGB and everyone at home, there’s a lot of people behind the scenes who push it through, from UK Sport and The National Lottery which allows me to be here and be in this atmosphere.
“If people didn’t do the Lottery at home, we wouldn’t have this experience.”
It’s SILVER for Krysten Coombs in the Para badminton singles!
Played, Krysten. #ParalympicsGB 🥈 pic.twitter.com/JLxtwUFQf9
— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 2, 2024
Coombs, who won bronze in Tokyo, built a decent lead in the opening exchanges of the first game but buoyed by a home crowd, Noakes was never going to be quiet for long.
He levelled the match at 11-11 just after Coombs had taken a brief medical timeout before taking the lead for the first time soon afterwards.
A three-point gap opened up for the Frenchman but Coombs responded in kind and it remained nip-and-tuck before Noakes brought up three game points.
Coombs saved two but could not prevent the third from being converted as the momentum switched to Noakes.
From there, the Frenchman was comfortable in the second game, with Coombs able to play attacking badminton as he stalled the party, but only temporarily.
He added: “I came out to play my best badminton and see what happened. The dream was to win that gold but it wasn’t to be.
“There was a momentum swing, he got that little edge and that’s badminton, that’s what happens. I struggled a little bit to come back out in the second set but I gave it my all.
“We are good friends on and off court, we try and socialise as much as we can. That’s what I love about para badminton, there are so many friendships.
“To share this moment with him was just incredible.”
