Bayley and McKibbin win Elite singles gold in USA
Gold for Will Bayley in men’s class 7 and Aaron McKibbin in men’s class 8 were the highlights of 10 singles medals won by the British Para Table Tennis team at the ITTF World Para Elite Spokane in Washington state, USA today. Tom Matthews (men’s class 1), Jack Hunter-Spivey (men’s class 4-5) and 15-year-old Bly Twomey (women’s class 6-7) took silver and there were also bronze medals for Rob Davies (men's class 1), Paul Karabardak (men’s class 6), Joshua Stacey (men’s class 9), Megan Shackleton (women’s class 4-5) and Grace Williams (women’s class 8).
Men’s class 7
Will Bayley won 3-0 against the Austrian Christian Scheiber, bronze medallist in the Paralympic World Qualification tournament 2024 and secured top place in his group and a bye into the quarterfinal with a 3-1 win against Kosuke Hemmi from Japan, gold medallist in the New Taipei City Para Open last year. He played superbly to beat Israel Stroh, the Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallist from Brazil 3-0 and after beating Stephane Messi, the former Paralympic champion from France 3-0 he was impressive in beating Hemmi again in the final without dropping a set.
“It think it was nearly the best performance of my career over the last few days,” said Bayley, who was winning his second tournament in five days having won the Future tournament last week. “Gorazd (BPTT performance director Gorazd Vecko) said it was 80-90% but said I can play better. Andrew (head coach Andrew Rushton) and I worked well together and tactically broke down the matches really well.”
Theo Bishop was beaten 3-0 by world number four Krizander Magnussen from Norway but progressed to the last 16 with a 3-1 win against Matthew Britz, the Oceania Para champion from New Zealand. He led 2-1 against Israel Stroh and after the Brazilian levelled at 2-2 Bishop was just edged out 12-10 in the deciding set.
Men’s class 8
World number one Aaron McKibbin began with a 3-0 win against Takumi Shukunobe from Japan and secured his place as winner of group one with a 3-0 win against Nicklas Westerberg, the former class 7 European bronze medallist from Sweden. After taking the first two sets in the quarterfinal 14-12 13-11 against Hayuma Abe from Japan he secured a 3-0 win 11-5 and then beat Emil Andersson, the World number eight and former World and Paralympic medallist from Sweden 3-1 in the semi-final. McKibbin faced world number five Clement Berthier from France in the final and after establishing a 2-0 lead he secured a 3-0 win, 12-10 in the third.
“Really happy to win my third tournament in a row,” said McKibbin, “it’s the first time I’ve done that. I had a really good competition – I don’t think I played as well as I did in Slovenia, but I think I was really solid in the basics. I didn’t feel any more pressure being world number one and I came in knowing I’d prepared really well. I didn’t play my best at the Nationals last month but I think if anything that was a bit of a positive because it switched me on a little bit more. I’ve been training harder than ever since Slovenia because I wanted to make sure the wins weren’t a flash in the pan and I’m really happy with my level overall. To only lose one set in an Elite tournament is definitely a positive and I just want to keep it going for the remainder of the season leading into the Europeans.”
Billy Shilton was a comfortable 3-0 winner against Enrique Preza from Mexico and progressed to the knockout stages as winner of group two with a 3-0 win against Andres Beroiza from Chile, the silver medallist in the World Para Challenger Santiago De Chile. Shilton went out in the quarterfinal after losing 3-1 to Marc Ledoux, the former world number one from Belgium.
Men’s class 1
Tom Matthews won 3-0 against the unranked Kim Kyutae from Republic of Korea and then recovered from losing the first set against world number five Federico Falco to beat the Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist from Italy 3-1. He secured top place in group 2 with a 3-0 win against the veteran American Michael Godfrey.
Rob Davies was a 3-0 winner against Victor Reyes Turcio, the former two-time Para PanAmerican champion from Mexico and was just edged out 3-2, 14-12 in the fifth by Jeong Sang Gu having twice come back to level against the Korean world number 12. That sent Davies through as group runner-up and set up an all-GB semi-final which was won by Matthews 3-0.
In the final Matthews faced Jeong Sang Gu and the Korean started well and led 2-0. The Welshman kept fighting and took the third set 11-7 but Jeong took the fourth 11-3 for a 3-1 win.
“Overall I feel I’ve played really well in this tournament,” said Matthews. “I feel I’ve been mentally stronger and more focused since working with Steve (BPTT coach Stephen Jenkins) and looking forward to the next tournament now. I think in the final I could have targeted his forehand a bit more but it’s the first time I’ve played him and I feel if I played him again it would be a different outcome. I’m really happy to have got to the final and it is a positive building block.”
Men’s class 4-5
Jack Hunter-Spivey led the World and European champion Valentin Baus 2-0 before the world number five from Germany fought his way back into the match and went on to win 3-2. Hunter-Spivey progressed to the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Zachary Pickett from USA and after dropping the first set against Kim Jung-Gil he came back to beat the class 4 World champion from Korea 3-1. That took him through to the quarterfinals and having led 2-0, 9-6 he looked to have lost the momentum against Kim Young-Gun when the class 4 world number two and Paralympic champion from Korea took the third 12-10 and led 9-6 in the fourth. But Hunter-Spivey showed all his determination to take the set 11-9 and secure a 3-1 win and he went on to win his semi-final against Kazuki Shichino, the class 4 World number four from Japan 3-1. The final was a rematch with Baus, and the German was at his best in a 3-0 win.
“I feel good overall,” said Hunter-Spivey, “although obviously really disappointed with losing in the final. But to have three amazing wins yesterday including against the Paralympic champion in class 4 – just beating some top players yesterday shows how my level has improved and that is credit to the training I’m doing back home in Sheffield and the GB team and just getting my head down and working as hard as I can. Definitely things to work on but overall I think it was a really good performance and I ‘m looking forward to the future now and how much I can improve again.”
Women’s class 6-7
Bly Twomey was a 3-0 winner against Claudia Perez, the Para PanAmerican champion from Mexico and finished top of group one after a 3-0 win against Cajsa Stadler, the class 6 world number 10 from Sweden. That earned her a bye into the semi-final, and she had to show all her character and fighting spirit to come back from 2-1 down against Kim Seongok, the class 7 world number seven and World bronze medallist from Korea, edging a tight fourth set 12-10 and securing a 3-2 win, 11-6 in the fifth.
In the final she faced Lethicia Lacerda and had to settle for silver after the class 8 Para PanAmerican Games bronze medallist from Brazil, who has recently been reclassified as a class 7, was a 3-0 winner.
“I played really well and am extremely proud to take back a silver medal,” said Twomey. “My semi-final was very tight, but I was really happy to pull through that match and get to the final. In the final the Brazilian played an incredible and different game to the other class 7 players. This was her first time competing as a class 7 and I knew it was going to be a difficult match. I wish it could have been closer, but I have a lot to take away from this tournament and come back stronger.”
Class 6 Fliss Pickard won 3-0 against class 6 Lee Kunwoo, the Asian Para Games silver medallist from Republic of Korea and was then beaten 3-0 by Lacerda. She progressed to the quarterfinals where she lost 3-0 to Kim Seongok.
Men’s class 6
Paul Karabardak was a 3-1 winner against Para PanAmerican bronze medallist
Matias Pino, the world number seven from Chile and topped group four after receiving a walkover against American teenager Justin Kim. He received a bye into the quarterfinals and beat Esteban Herrault, the world number 11 and European doubles champion from France 3-0 to progress to the semi-final where he fought back from 2-0 down against Bobi Simion to take the third set 11-4 before the world number three from Romania secured a 3-1 win, 13-11 in the fourth.
“I’m really happy with bronze,” said Karabardak, “especially beating two really good top 10 players who were in good form. Disappointed to lose to Bobi – he’s very difficult and serves and plays really well. I played some good stuff, but he had the edge this time. I feel that I played really well and I’m benefiting from the work I’ve been doing with Steve (BPTT coach Stephen Jenkins) and having him in my corner. It’s great for my confidence to come to an Elite tournament and win a medal in a very difficult competition so I can continue building my way back up to where I believe I should be.”
Martin Perry was a 3-0 winner against Junki Itai, the former Asian Championships medallist from Japan and then lost 3-0 to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Ian Seidenfeld from USA. He progressed to the last 16 as group three runner-up and twice fought back to level against the American Samuel Altshuler before taking the deciding set 11-6 for a 3-2 win. Perry went out in the quarterfinal after losing in three close sets to Simion.
Men’s class 9
Joshua Stacey had lost his last two matches against the World number 13 Daniel Gustafsson but he beat the European bronze medallist from Sweden 3-0 and then recovered from losing the first set to win 3-1 against the world number four Koyo Iwabuchi, the Asian Championships silver medallist and former World bronze medallist from Japan. Stacey went through to the knockout stages as group winner after a comfortable 3-0 win against Kim Jongtae from the Republic of Korea and came through a tricky quarterfinal 3-1 against the American Tahl Leibovitz, the Para PanAmerican champion who won Paralympic gold in 1996, four years before Stacey was born. That earned him a semi-final match against Laurens Devos and the three-time Paralympic champion from Belgium was a 3-0 winner, 12-10 in the third.
“I think I played OK through the tournament,” said Stacey. “I felt playing Devos was definitely a step up - I don’t think I performed as well as I could have as well as him not allowing me to. The third set was close – I had some opportunities to try and take it but didn’t manage to take them and being the level he is he punished me for that. But as a general rule of thumb, I’ve played well and have just got some things to focus on and try to improve when I go back to Sheffield.”
Women’s class 4-5
Class 4 Megan Shackleton lost only four points in a 3-0 win against Kajalben Makavana from India and took the first set against the class 5 world number two Jung Young A before the three-time Paralympic bronze medallist from Republic of Korea came back to win in four close sets. Shackleton secured her place in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win against Alexandra Stepanova from Kazakhstan and played superbly to beat the Korean class 5 world number four and Paralympic and World bronze medallist Moon Sunghye 3-0. That took her through to the semi-finals where she lost 3-0 to the Tokyo Paralympic silver medallist Bavina Patel, the class 4 world number two from India.
“I feel I’ve been really solid this tournament,” said Shackleton, “and played some high-level stuff. To get through to the quarterfinal against the world number three from class 5 I think shows I’m now progressing to the next level and the hard work being done to evolve my game is starting to pay off. In the semi-final I did play well in patches, but I was disappointed with a 3-0 loss as I believe I can challenge Patel a lot more than that. But all-in-all it’s really positive to finish the Elite with a podium position.”
Women’s class 8
Grace Williams lost her opening match in four close sets to the American three-time US Open champion Zu Mingyu and then produced a great performance to beat the Japanese world number two Yuri Tomono, gold medallist in the World Para Elite Lasko in Slovenia 3-0. She had to fight hard against Asako Kurashimo, taking a tight first set 15-13 and finally securing a 3-2 win, 11-6 in the fifth after the 15-year-old from Japan had twice come back to level. Williams started well in her semi-final against Nina Reck, taking the first set but the German took the next two and secured a 3-1 win, 16-14 in the fourth.
“Overall, I feel I played really well,” said Williams. “It felt like the things I’ve worked on in training have really improved and it shows in my matches. Really happy with the win against Tomono considering I lost 3-1 to her back in May. However, there are plenty of things to work on in the training hall as well.”
Men’s class 2
Chris Ryan started slowly against world number three Peter Lovas but from 2-0 down fought back well to take the third set and led 9-4 in the fourth before the Slovakian, gold medallist in Poland and Montenegro this season, used his experience to take the set 12-10 for a 3-1 win. Ryan secured his place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against the American James Segrest, the two-time US Open medallist and a 3-1 win against Guilherme Marcio Da Costa, the world number 10 from Brazil. He started well in his quarterfinal against Luis Flores and led 2-0 before the world number five and Para PanAmerican champion came back to take the match 3-2.