This is the moment a flying bat joins in a game of badminton after snatching the shuttlecock from the players and returning it to them several times.

The friendly three-way match reportedly took place in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, eastern China.

Several boys were playing badminton when the shuttlecock got suddenly taken away by a bat that was flying above them.

Two pieces of footage show the incredible moment when the bat flies over one of the players’ heads and grabs the birdie with its claws and carries it for a short while.

The bat then drops the shuttlecock back to the boys but returns a few more times for a ‘rematch’.

One of the players, named Mr Xie in local media, said that he was quite surprised when he encountered this situation for the first time.

The bat behind him snatched the ball from him and carried it a certain distance before dropping it.

Mr Xie said (in Chinese): “The bat caught the ball and kept it for a while, then returned it to us several times.

“In order to record this shocking moment, we deliberately put it in the air, but I didn’t expect it to be interactive.”