Bognor Boccia star Louis Saunders is hoping to take some valuable experience from his exit in the singles at the Paralympics.

The 19-year-old is the youngest member of Team GB’s nine-strong boccia team in Tokyo.

However, he was unable to get out of the Pool stages today after being beaten 9-0 by Thailand’s Ritthikrai Somsanuk.

Saunders opponent has a strong track record having won a silver medal in the Pairs at the World Championships in 2018.

But Saunders knew the games in Tokyo were all about getting some valuable experience, with his main target being to do well at the next games in Paris in three years’ time.

He said: “Somsanuk played really well, he worked the angles really well which created situations I wasn’t really used to so that’s something to go away and work on. Every end he had one or two balls ahead of me so he thoroughly deserved to win.

“I’m now looking at what experience I can take from the last three days into the Pairs and then also what can I take from this experience as a whole to help me move forward?

“Hopefully I can respond positively in a couple of days time but also in three, four or five years down the line.”

He will be back on court for the Pairs event which starts on Thursday, where Team GB have a great chance of a medal.