Bradford archer Phil Bottomley admits the pressure of shooting for a medal at his first Paralympic Games may have proven his undoing as he missed out on team bronze in London.

Great Britain’s recurve men were beaten 206-193 by Beijing silver medallists China today in the bronze medal match, with Bottomley left to rue an inconsistent individual performance.

After the host nation got off to a strong start at the Royal Artillery Barracks, the Chinese proved too strong and were already comfortably ahead by the half-way stage.

Bottomley and team-mates Kenny Allen and Paul Browne were unable to stage a late fightback, meaning they missed out on a first Paralympic medal.

Afterwards, Bottomley conceded there had been errors in his play but he is determined to learn from the experience.

“I felt alright but I was taking too long with my shots and not giving my other colleagues the chance to get their shots in,” said the 53-year-old.

“It’s all experience because two of us were at our first Games but it’s quite tough out there with the adrenaline, and the timing you have got to get right.

“We went out there to do our job like we have been doing on the practice field. We can bang in 200 points no problem but there was a lot of pressure out there.”

Having top-scored out of all the countries in the ranking event, before beating Chinese Tapei 195-179 in the quarter-finals, hopes were high that the trio could force their way into gold medal contention.

But they lost 197-190 to Korea in the semi-finals before eventually coming up short against the Chinese.

“It’s not back to the drawing board now but there are things we have got to work on,” said Bottomley, whose individual campaign was ended by Turkey’s Oguzhan Polat at the last-16 stage.

“With the coach we will have a big debate about it and see where we can pick up the pieces.

“I have tried to relax and just enjoy it and the whole experience has been fantastic.”

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