Fraser Riley did not expect to have a role to play at the Paralympics – but, in an emotional twist of fate, he ended up as one of the voices of table tennis at the Paris extravaganza.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman was the English language announcer in the South Paris Arena, engaging with and providing information to crowds of thousands. It came about after he was approached by the company providing the service.

It was a similar role to that carried out by Andy Ashworth at the same arena during the Olympic Games earlier in the summer.

As one of the stable of commentators working on the WTT circuit, Fraser is no stranger to talking about table tennis, but admits the role took him out of his comfort zone.

“When they reached out to me asking if I would like to do sport-specific announcing, I thought that meant I’d be commentating for a different TV channel and that was just their way of referring to that,” said Fraser.

“So I was a bit shocked to find out I was doing the announcements in the arena, which I’d never done before! But I was blessed that they asked me as otherwise I wouldn’t have been part of the Paralympics.

“I had two days to prepare. A lot of it was script-reading – welcoming people to the arena, directing them to merchandising, regulations around no smoking or vaping, that kind of thing. But there was also crowd work, trying to get them involved and rev them up, introducing the players and officials and reading out the scores.

“It was easier than commentary, but actually it was scarier. Even though the TV production goes to more people, I found it more nerve-wracking talking to the arena because you get that instant reaction if you get something wrong, or say something that’s meant to be funny but they don’t get it. On TV, you can block that out a bit.

“I was working with a French TV guy and he showed me the ropes and probably did more of the crowd work because more of the people in the arena were French.

“It was an unforgettable experience and one I didn’t expect.”

It was also an emotional experience for Fraser, whose 24-year-old sister Annabelle has cerebral palsy.

“To be part of the Paralympics was quite close to home and I can really relate to a lot of the athletes – and that made me want to do a good job even more,” said Fraser.

“It was Annabelle’s (24th) birthday while I was out there and I messaged her about Bly Twomey – that a girl with CP had won a medal – and to see her reaction to that was special.

“Annabelle’s actually the reason I started playing table tennis in the first place. One of my mum’s best friends also has a daughter with CP – they met at a disability awareness group. We went to a barbecue at their house and I met her brother – he became one of my best friends and they had a table tennis table in their garage!”

Fraser hopes to be able to join the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) team at the Olympics in Los Angeles in four years’ time – OBS provides live coverage for broadcasters around the world, who can opt to take the English commentary too if they wish. It is the organisation Don Parker has worked for at the last 10 Games.

He said: “I was really happy for the para athletes that it was pretty close to full. I was really chuffed that the likes of Billy (Shilton), Bly, Will (Bayley) and Fliss (Pickard) got to play with that many people behind them. It was an awesome atmosphere.

“It was a great opportunity to be there. Hopefully, we’ll see if I can get out to LA in four years.”