Thakker takes gold in French Para Open

Jakimczuk, the World and European doubles bronze medallist from Poland. The pair met in Slovenia in May when World number 19 Jakimczuk won in four sets and at 2-0, 9-5 he looked to be on course for a 3-0 win. But Ryan, who led the GB wheelchair rugby team to gold in Tokyo, is nothing if not a fighter and he came back to take the third set 11-9 and the fourth 11-8 to level at 2-2. The fifth set was nip and tuck all the way and Ryan had match points at 10-9 and 11-10 but Jakimczuk saved them both before taking the set 15-13 on his third match point to secure the gold.

“I’m pleased with how I played today,” said Ryan. “The first two games I was a lot more focused and locked in compared to yesterday which was good and I’m proud of the fight back in the final. I found something during the match and fought back. Disappointing obviously to lose after having match points but I think progression has been shown as I struggled against him last time. A big winter of practice now.”

Men’s class 6

In group 1 Daniel Thomson started well against Piotr Manturz taking the first set 12-10 before the number one seed from Poland came back to win 3-1. The 19-year-old from Brighton

Men’s class 7

Theo Bishop was a 3-0 winner against Pablo Romero from Spain and then lost a close five-set battle against the Austrian Christian Scheiber 11-8 in the deciding set. At 2-0, 8-5 he looked to be heading for a 3-0 win against Huang Ren Ting but a timeout worked well for the 19-year-old from Chinese Taipei and he took the set 12-10 before Bishop secured a 3-1 win 13-11 in the fourth. That took him through to a quarterfinal against World number 10 Bjoern Schnake and although he took the third set 12-10 to keep himself in the match the European bronze medallist from Germany won 3-1.

Men’s class 8

Ryan Henry was a 3-0 winner against newcomer Diego Carrasco Olivos from Spain and was then beaten 3-0 by 21-year-old Frenchman Edgar Empis. He progressed from group 5 as runner-up after a 3-1 win against Mohit Singh from Germany but went out after a 3-1 loss in the last 16 to Nicklas Westerberg, the former class 7 European bronze medallist from Sweden.

On his international debut Jaiden Caldeira lost 3-0 to Polish teenager Marcin Zielinski and 3-0 to 16-year-old Yehonatan Levi from Israel. In his final group match against Hamza Taleb he fought back well from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 but did not progress from group 2 after losing the deciding set to the Belgian 11-6.

The tournament continues with the doubles events that conclude tomorrow.

The full British squad for the SQY French Para Open is:

Chris Ryan, 33, Welwyn Garden City (class 2)

Daniel Thomson, 19, Brighton/Sheffield (class 7)

Jacob Wicks, 19, Cwmbran/Sheffield (class 6)

Jaiden Caldeira, 20, Barnet (class 8)

Max Flint, 20, Guildford/Loughborough (class 10)

Ryan Henry, 24, Ardrossan/Sheffield (class 8)

Shae Thakker, 21, High Wycombe/Sheffield (class 10)

Theo Bishop, 21, Rossendale/Sheffield (class 7)