Boccia star David Smith on being inspired by his grandfather while claiming Paralympic gold in Tokyo

Paralympic Boccia champion David Smith has revealed how he felt his grandfather's presence during the final moments of victory in Tokyo as he won a gold medal.

David Smith became the UK's most successful boccia player ever when he beat Malaysia's Chew Wei Lun in the boccia BC1 individual final.

The triumphant 4-2 win means the Swansea athlete is now a back-to-back Paralympic champion.

When Smith came on to the court to retain his title from Rio 2016 he told ITV News he "felt his grandfather's presence".

Smith initially followed in his grandfather's footsteps by studying engineering.

The 32-year-old, who sports a distinctive crop of red and blue spiky hair, came from 2-nil down to beat Malaysia's Chew Wei Lun's and claim ParalympicGB's 30th gold of the games so far.

He admitted "the tears came" when he thought of his grandfather and how was proud he was of his achievements.

"You don't think about these things - being the most successful player, but what was more important was being the first BC1 to retain a Paralympic title that's never been done before. I had that one eyed up for quite a while," he said.

It is a third Paralympic gold for the reigning world champion who also won a team title in Beijing in 2008.

Smith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a child but by 14 he had become the youngest ever British Boccia Champion.

From there, he won a gold medal for the team performance at the Beijing Paralympics and an Individual BC1 Silver in London 2012, before going on to win gold in Rio 2016.

The gold is Wales' second of the games so far with Jim Roberts having lead Great Britain to a historic wheelchair rugby gold.