Chan was in a car accident at the age of 22 in 2008, losing his leg and spending close to a year in hospital recovering from his injury. He said badminton saved his life and by the end of 2009 he was a member of the Hong Kong para-badminton team, and first represented Hong Kong in 2010 at the Asian Para Games.

He kicked off his quest for a medal at the Paralympics by downing France’s Thomas Jakobs last Thursday in straight sets, but then hit a hiccup the following day in losing to Japan’s Daiki Kajiwara. Chan then beat Great Britain’s Martin Rooke later that day, but on Saturday in the semi-final lost to South Korea’s Kim Jung-jun.

Chan said he’s happy with his overall performance given Kajiwara – who he lost to in a lengthy 77-minute back and forth, three-game slugfest – would go on to win gold on Sunday. Chan said bronze presented a tough mental challenge for him, knowing it was glory, or all for naught in his final game in Japan.

“The bronze medal game is quite different than other games,” he said, comparing it to regular badminton circuit tournaments. “It’s kind of double or nothing, because in a regular tournament if you get third or fourth it means you are in top form. But (at the Olympics), getting bronze means everything, and if you get fourth no one will remember you, so the stress is so much more.”

Chan battled soreness in his arm after his third game, but said he was able to push through it and come through with a gritty win on Sunday, which he credits to the support network he has.

“I knew I have a lot of backing here in Hong Kong, so that helped me knowing people were cheering for me to win.”

That thought came to fruition when he woke up Monday morning in the village, bronze medal in his room, to more than a thousand messages of congratulations.

“I want to try and reply to all of them,” he said. “But I don’t know if I can, it may be too much.”

Chan said he now feels like he’s a part of history when it comes to Hong Kong sports, and this is a magical moment for him as both a person and an athlete. He said being disabled is not easy, especially in a city like Hong Kong, which is not wheelchair accessible, and he still has to deal with people staring at him in public every day of his life.

“Being disabled, I am always being discriminated against and put in unfair conditions, I’m always struggling. So when I feel those moments, I need to remind myself and ask, ‘Who am I? And where did I come from.’

“So being part of Hong Kong sport history, it will make me feel proud of myself and recognise myself more. So now I have great confidence to go out on the street and I am not scared of anybody’s eyes and I can look into their eyes even though they are looking at me strangely.”

Chan said he is not sure about his future yet and will use his time in quarantine to mull whether he wants to continue playing and shoot for Paris in 2024. He said one of the things weighing on him is that he is the only wheelchair badminton player who competes at an elite level and he wants children in wheelchairs to have a role model to look up to.

He said he doesn’t plan on wearing his bronze medal out in the streets of Hong Kong.

“I don’t think I would go that far,” he said. “But maybe I will use it once to get some free noodles.”