Rob Davies has claimed another bronze medal on the ITTF World Para Elite Lasko tournament in Slovenia after a battling run in the men’s class one event.

The Brecon table tennis star reached the semi-finals following a series of hard-fought performances in Lasko.

Davies opened with a 3-0 win over France’s Alan Papirer, the world number 12, before edging through a marathon contest with long-time rival Endre Major of Hungary.

The match swung back and forth throughout, with Davies taking the opener 12-10, Major hitting back 11-8, and Davies again edging ahead 12-10. He then sealed a dramatic 17-15 fourth set to win 3-1 and top his group, securing a bye into the last four.

In the semi-final, Davies twice fought back to level against Finland’s Timo Natunen and saved two match points in a tense deciding set. However, the world number eight held his nerve to edge it 11-9 and take a 3-2 victory, leaving Davies with bronze.

Afterwards, the 41-year-old admitted his frustration but said there were positives to take from the week.

“I’m just really angry with myself right now,” said Davies. “I just didn’t play as I can – again focus was a bit of a struggle, and I definitely need to go away and work on my psych stuff a little bit at home. Tough competition again. Conditions don’t really suit me here - I’ve normally got better serves than that, but I’m relatively pleased with some of the performances, I just didn’t really perform in the semi-finals.”

Davies, who won his fifth European title last year is focused on the World Championships and with medals from both tournaments in Slovenia despite not playing his best he can take plenty of encouragement back to the training hall.

“I can definitely take positives from both tournaments here,” he said. “I’m definitely up there and one of the leading European guys, I’ve just got to go back and work on stuff with my coach Nathan Thomas who has been brilliant for me. We’ll go back and look through the footage and make improvements in training and really step it up before the Worlds in November. For now, I’ve got lots to work on - on and off the table – so roll on Thailand for me.”