Billy Shilton and Paul Karabardak’s dream of adding Paralympic gold to the World title they won two years ago is still alive after they came through their men’s class 14 quarterfinal against the Para Panamerican silver medallists Paulo Salmin and Israel Stroh from Brazil 3-1 but there was heartbreak for Will Bayley and Martin Perry who lost a close match to the European champions from France in a tense deciding set.

Shilton and Karabardak started slowly and lost the first set 11-7 but took the second 11-9. The third set proved crucial as after leading 9-5 they had to fight to take it 11-9 before securing a 3-1 win, 11-5 in the fourth.

“To win that match we had to be on top,” said Karabardak, “so to have such a slow start made it really hard but to regroup and come out and play the way we did was superb. We held our nerve and did what we needed to do in the end – we focused really well, and it was a performance we can be proud of.”

“It was massive to win the third set,” said Shilton. “At 9-9 I was thinking if I can just receive the ball short to Stroh’s forehand – we spoke about it beforehand so it was a perfect situation and really important we won that third set.”

In tomorrow’s semi-final they play Rungroj Thainiyom and Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri from Thailand who they beat to win the World title in Spain.

“I don’t think we’ve finished yet,” said Shilton. “Paul said about five minutes after we’d won ‘go for gold now’ and we genuinely believe that we can win gold. I think we are one of the best teams in the world so it’s great that we’re going to have another opportunity to prove it tomorrow.”

“It’s the biggest event of them all,” said Karabardak, “and the biggest stage so to have another Paralympic medal is really special. It’s hard to describe but I think it is the ultimate achievement for an athlete, so I think it sums up what it means.”

Coach Andrew Rushton believes that his team can go all the way.

“I’m incredibly proud and also very emotional,” he said. “Working with Paul in Tokyo and managing to get that medal in the team event – and I’ve been working with Billy for a long time so to manage to get that win was very special and I’m so proud of them both. On to the next one now and make sure we’re ready for the semifinal. We’re not just content with bronze – these two boys are world champions, and they can beat anybody so we’ve got to go in there believing that and go for gold.”

Will Bayley and Martin Perry were up against not just the European champions and number two seeds Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault from France but a passionate and vocal home crowd. At 2-0 down the British pair looked to have a mountain to climb but they fought back magnificently to take the third set 11-9 and having taken the fourth 11-7 looked to have the momentum going into the fifth and deciding set.

Berthier and Herrault led 7-4 but Bayley and Perry kept fighting and edged into the lead at 9-8 before the French pair roared on by an ecstatic crowd took the set 11-9 and the match 3-2.

“We never gave up,” said a disconsolate Bayley, “and Martin played one of the best shots I’ve ever seen when we were 2-0 down and I think 4-4. We took momentum from that shot and I felt massive belief after that shot and I think it rattled them a little bit as well. We just built on that momentum, and I really felt confident going into that fifth set that we were going to win. The margins were so small – millimetres – so it was just one of those matches that could have gone either way.

“I just think we played really well, and the quality of our shots was so high from both of us. I don’t think we could have done a lot more than we did today. We did get a bit unlucky but that’s sport and it’s not an excuse, but the ball didn’t drop for us today. It was a great atmosphere and amazing to play in – we were so focused, and I didn’t really feel that I was thinking too much about the crowd I was thinking about what we were doing and hopefully it showed in the quality of the match.”

“It was an unbelievable experience,” said Perry, “to have that atmosphere. The crowd – how many thousands of people in here against two? It was amazing and we showed the characters that we are. I think we can be extremely proud of our efforts to be two points away from a Paralympic medal. I feel we had all the momentum going into that fifth set. We played exceptionally well to get back to 2-2; we always believed in each other and knew that we could go the distance and go toe-to-toe with them. They are the European champions and number two in the world, but we’ve shown that we can win these major medals – we just need a bit of luck maybe.”