Liverpool athlete Rachel Choong becomes Paralympics GB's first ever female para-badminton player

ITV Granada Reports sports correspondent Chris Hall went to meet Rachel Choong

A world champion athlete from Liverpool has become Paralympics GB's first ever female para-badminton player.

Ten times World Champion Rachel Choong has never been to the Games because her category was not included - until now.

She will join a 215 strong British team for the Paralympics in Paris at the end of August.

The 30-year-old was born with a rare type of short stature, or dwarfism, called 3M Syndrome. It is so rare that doctors were unable to diagnose it until she was 26.

Rachel competes in Women's Singles, Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles events in the Short Stature (SH6) classification within Para-Badminton.

She is currently ranked World number one and is England’s most highly decorated badminton player, with 10 World Championship titles and nine European Championship titles.

She is now hoping to make up for lost time by sweeping up medals in both the singles and mixed doubles events in Paris.

Rachel was 27 when Para-Badminton first made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo in 2021, but to her dismay, her events were not included.

She says she was devastated, and considered quitting when she found out.

"Para badminton was in, but my event wasn't included," she said.

"I was in bits if I'm honest. I was ready to hang my racket up. The motivation was almost completely gone."

And while Paralympians could train during the pandemic, Rachel had to adapt to keep her dream alive.

"Other people around the world were going back to training but I was housebound apart from that one hour a day we could go out," she said.

"I tried to train in the garden but I live in Crosby near the beach so it was a bit windy!"

With no funding, she took a job selling smartphones to get herself to tournaments and used annual leave to take part.

Finally, Rachel's SH6 category was added to the Paralympics and England's most decorated badminton player could finally be a full-time athlete.

She said: "I was lost for words when I found out - I couldn't even move.

"It's something that I've dreamed of for such a long time but I never thought it would be possible - it's my ultimate dream to be up on the podium."I can't wait to get out on the court. In our sport we don't get many supporters - perhaps a couple of hundred if we're lucky. In France it's going to be thousands."

​Rachel is passionate about increasing the profile and reach of Para-Badminton, Badminton, Paralympic and women’s sport.