Hounslow's Rajiv Ouseph’s hopes of winning England their first European men’s singles gold medal for 24 years ended in disappointment in the Russian city of Kazan on Sunday.

The England No. 1 and 2010 Commonwealth silver medallist had to settle for second best against top seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark, going down 21-18 21-10.

Ouseph, who won a European bronze four years ago, started slowly in this afternoon’s second final at the INTERSPORT European Championships and Jorgensen raced into a 7-1 lead.

But from 8-4 down Ouseph responded with a nine-point burst to lead 13-8 and then 16-10 before his Danish opponent levelled at 17-17 and then went on to take a fluctuating opening game in 16 minutes.

Jorgensen, coached by Ouseph’s former mentor Kenneth Jonassen, was fiercely determined as he looked to add to previous bronze and silver medals.

He dominated the second game, leading 11-3 at the halfway stage before going on to win his first European title on his second match point after 33 minutes.

Ouseph can look back on a successful week with the silver medal adding to the silver he won in the European Team Championships in February.

Now he will be looking to take this week’s form into the three big challenges over the next four months – the Thomas Cup finals in Delhi, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the World Championships in Copenhagen.