Pam Butcher has once again won a medal on the world stage.

Defending the over-85 title she won two years ago in Alicante, Pam this time had to settle for bronze at the World Veteran Championships in Las Vegas.

She was edged out in the semi-finals by Reiko Miyagawa of Japan, losing 16-14 in the decider as it finished 3-2 (11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 16-14) in favour of her opponent, who went on to win the gold.

Betty Bird, who won the WS80 category for England two years ago and was this year representing Australia, was also knocked out in the semi-finals, 3-0 (9, 3, 3) by Tetsuko Harada.

In the MS45 class, Lorestas Trumpauskas was defeated in the quarter-finals, 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7) by Mats Kallberg of Sweden.

There were also quarter-final appearances for Eileen Shaler (WS70), Carol Judson (WS75) and Jean White (WS80) – the latter was also beaten by Harada.

In the doubles, Jean White was a silver medallist alongside Bird, beaten 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-4) by Japanese pair Harada & Chizuko Nagase in the WD80 category.

There were semi-final defeats for Trumpauskas (MD45, with Dmitry Abramenko of Israel), Shirley Gelder & Sandra Riley (WD60), Brian Hill & Derek Holman (MD70) and

In the consolation events, there were singles final victories for Julie Lawrence (WS50) and Ji Xiaoman (WS45) and defeat in the final for Sarah Horsnell (WS40).

The doubles consolation events supplied several English finalists, including winners Clive Carthy & Martin Smith (MD50) and Marjorie Dawson in the WD65 class alongside Yvonne Fogarty of New Zealand.

Runners-up were Michael Levene (MD40, with Tim Nasseir of USA), John Poysden (MD60, with Peter Aird of Scotland) and Stuart Sweeney (MD70, with Borden Yeh of USA)

The competition featured some 5,000 competitors from more than 80 nations, with around 100 travelling from England.