Daniel Bethell seemed unstoppable today, after a confident display in the quarterfinal he went on to beat the world number three 21-5, 21-8 in the semis and secure a valuable finals day berth.

England’s Daniel Bethell is ‘on fire’. Those were the words used by Team GB Head Coach Richard Morris who gave his praise to Bethell in the St Jakobshalle concourse after the match in front of friends, family and the public.

Proud would be the most suitable word to sum up the look on his face and the faces of all of Bethell’s teammates and staff after his semifinal win.

Bethell had previously beaten Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara in the quarterfinal in straight games, and now moves on to face his main rival Pramod Bhagat (IND). With the ranking points from the 2017 World Championships about to be erased by those earned this week, Bethell and Pramod will be on exactly level terms.

Not only will the winner be crowned world champion, they will also be unchallenged as the world number one, and might even lead the way in the “Race to Tokyo” ranking list created for the 2020 Paralympic Games next summer.

Read: Antonsen in the final

“I can’t imagine a better training set up”

We spoke to Daniel Bethell after the match, he had this to say:

- I’ve never been more confident about my game, or felt so at-ease when I step out on court. The performance today was my greatest ever. 

- I can’t imagine a better environment, or training set up than what we have at home and that has got me ready for these championships and for this qualification period. From the training, to the nutrition, psychology and strength work – everything has helped get me to this position and we’re all in it together, he added.

- I’m looking forward to the final, it will be a great test. We’ve had incredible battles before and I’ve been down 20-16 in the third and come back and won. The adversity helps make me stronger. I respect him, but I’ve no fear of him. It will be a great match.

The magnificent seven

Seven European players/pairs have made it through to the finals, in fact one gold medal for Europe has already been decided. England’s Rachel Choong and Rebecca Bedford claimed the SS6 women’s doubles title this evening with a 27-25, 21-17 win over Carmen Flores (PER) and Katherine Valli (USA). Choong aiming for triple gold here in Basel. Other hopefuls tomorrow include,

Jan-Niklas Pott & Katrin Seibert (GER) SL3-SU5 mixed doubles

Jack Shephard (ENG) SS6 men’s singles

Rachel Choong (ENG)  SS6 women’s singles

Lucas Mazur (FRA) SL4 men’s singles

Rachel Choong & Andrew Martin (ENG) SS6 mixed doubles

Bobby Laing & Rebecca Bedford (ENG) SS6 mixed doubles

Three finals will take place in the main-hall before the able-bodied World Championships get under way, early Sunday morning.

Day five Para-Badminton World Championships 2019 results can be found on tournament software here. Look out for live stream matches, live commentary and highlights on BadmintonWorld.tv