British table tennis player Will Bayley was “devastated” after suffering deja vu in Paris following a second successive Paralympic final defeat to China’s Yan Shuo.

World No.1 Bayley, who is based at Brighton Table Tennis Club in Kemp Town, arrived in France with ambitions of holding the Paralympic, world and European class seven crowns simultaneously.

But, having lost to Shuo in the Tokyo 2020 final amid his recovery from a serious knee injury suffered rehearsing for Strictly Come Dancing, the 36-year-old’s dream was dashed by Friday’s agonising 3-2 loss at South Paris Arena.

Silver for Bayley followed a similar outcome for fellow former Paralympic champion Rob Davies, who was beaten 3-0 by Cuba’s Yunier Fernandez in the class one final.

Rio 2016 gold medallist Bayley, who was beaten 11-8 12-14 11-7 7-11 11-9, said: “I lost to him in Tokyo and felt he was the better player but today I felt on top of him.

“I felt really good, I felt I was going to win that fifth set. But that’s sport.

“I am devastated, obviously. I’ve trained really hard and I feel as good as I have in my career.

“I was proud to put up my best performance and I think I was good enough to win the gold medal.”

Bayley was backed by a large contingent from Brighton Table Tennis Club, while daughters Bella and Grace were among his cheerleaders.

“My little girls are watching me and I miss out on so much of their lives when I’m training and away a lot,” he said.

“I give everything to the sport and I wanted to win a gold medal for them as they support me so much. I feel like I owe it to them but at least I gave my best, I left it all on the table.”