23 October 2024
Not many individuals would need to have fun with the one who beat them to Paralympic gold, however that’s simply what Krysten Coombs did.
Coombs upgraded SH6 males’s singles bronze he received in Tokyo to silver in Paris however misplaced to house favorite and shut buddy Charles Noakes of France.
The tussle between the 2 of them turned one of many moments of the Video games because the pair revelled within the environment at La Chapelle Enviornment.
They even discovered time to mirror on their medals collectively a couple of days after their closing with Coombs additionally wanting again on what para badminton has given him.
“From a younger age sport was at all times one thing for me, I liked it,” the 33-year-old mentioned.
“I used to swim, play soccer, play desk tennis and I like my different sports activities now however I take into consideration having the ability to have this chance.
“The day it turned a full-time programme and I used to be capable of name myself a full-time athlete was an actual dream come true and it has positively given me so many alternatives.
“I’ve made pals everywhere in the world – not simply teammates I spend day in, time out with – guys like Charles.
“Now we have been capable of have the chance of hanging round with them at tournaments and I managed to go and have fun with him a couple of days after we received our medals, which was unbelievable.
“It has made me the individual I’m at present and given me so many alternatives I won’t have been capable of have if I hadn’t taken up the game.
Coombs’ return to the UK has seen him take his medal to colleges in a hope of inspiring the following era of sporting stars.
The six-time world medallist was one in every of three returning ParalympicsGB badminton gamers, with Rachel Choong becoming a member of the squad after her occasions have been added to the Paralympic programme.
And it was Choong, Jack Shephard and fellow silver medallist Dan Bethell with whom Coombs first celebrated his medal instantly after coming off the rostrum.
He added: “From day one, the day I moved as much as Sheffield and the day the full-time programme turned a factor, the help now we have all had from one another has been unbelievable.
“It’s continuous, each time we go to internationals, we’re simply continually behind one another.
“On court docket, me and Jack, to have the ability to have one another over the past eight years now, coaching day in, time out, it has been unbelievable for each of us that we’ve been capable of push one another a lot.
“I had the medal and so did Dan, however we see that every one of us received the medals collectively which is superb.
“To have that help from a group round you once we go away, but additionally the group at house as effectively.
“I obtained to have fun with Jack and everybody else in Paris however then to have the ability to come house and have fun with the opposite employees that everybody doesn’t at all times see.”
The season has quietened down for England’s para badminton stars, though the Nationwide Championships are actually firmly on the horizon.
New stage unlocked 🥈🔥🤩🇬🇧
What a efficiency, an inspiration to us all 🙌⭐❤
📸 @badmintonphoto#ParalympicsGB #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/DtHWsl4MhR
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) September 3, 2024
That’s giving Coombs the prospect to think about the place his future lies with the cycle for LA to start in earnest subsequent yr.
“In Paris, it was superb to have the ability to be a part of that second myself but additionally to provide Para badminton that highlight is superb,” Coombs mentioned.
“It’s nonetheless a brand new sport within the Paralympics and to come back away from the Video games with everybody speaking about it’s simply superb.
“I hope that there are many youthful para badminton stars on the market or possibly youngsters who haven’t even taken up a sport but who can see that and be impressed to possibly have that as their future alternative as effectively, that might be unbelievable.
“The LA cycle is one thing I haven’t utterly caught to but; I’ve obtained this era now the place I can get again into it and see if my love continues to be there and the way it feels.
“The physique is getting older, however I used to be capable of show to myself in Paris that I used to be clearly in nice form and taking part in the perfect badminton I’ve ever performed in my life.
“It’s a difficult one to stability up, typically age isn’t the issue, however it’s a issue that it’s one other 4 years of your life.
“Who is aware of what I’ll be doing in six months however in the intervening time my head is in to go once more.”
