Bayley and Twomey take European doubles title in Sweden
Newly crowned women’s class 7 European champion Bly Twomey rounded off a successful ITTF European Para Table Tennis Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden by taking gold in the mixed doubles class 14 with Will Bayley and bronze in the women’s doubles class 14 with Fliss Pickard. Bayley also took silver in the men’s doubles class 14 with Theo Bishop.
Mixed class 14
Will Bayley and Bly Twomey were number one seeds here after a successful season with gold medals in Slovenia and the USA. The combination of Bayley’s intensity and Twomey’s youthful exuberance is irresistible, and they made a great start to the final, taking the first set 11-4 against Clement Berthier and Morgen Caillaud. The French pair, bronze medallists two years ago led 9-6 in the second but Bayley and Twomey levelled at 9-9 and took the set 11-9 before completing a comprehensive 3-0 win, 11-5 in the third.
“It was a good match, “said Bayley. “I was disappointed to lose the doubles with Theo (Bishop) and I was actually quite emotional before the match as I was thinking about Gorazd and it was difficult to play but we just tried our best to win. Bly always tells me to have fun and she carried me – the first point we played she punched it into Berthier and I thought, ‘yeah, we’re good here’. She led the way, and we gained confidence together and by the last set we were flowing and I was actually smiling which makes a big change for me.”
Bayley has been a major influence on Twomey’s career since the pair first met at Brighton Table Tennis Club in 2021.
“Winning a European title with Bly means everything to me,” he said. “I first saw her when I came back from Tokyo and she asked me if I wanted a game. She hit the ball straight past me and I thought ‘this girl is going to be good’. She’s even surprised me with how good she is. She’s an amazing person and she puts that first – she even teaches things to me. She teaches me to have fun playing table tennis which is new to me. The relationship is always changing because she is a world class player now and I’m so proud of her and what she has achieved. She’ll be the best player in the world and what an inspiration that will be.”
Twomey has made astonishing progress in four years and her smiling demeanour on court masks a fierce competitiveness that comes close to matching Bayley’s.
“From the start Will has been my inspiration,” she said, “and it’s amazing to play with such a great player and a world number one. I couldn’t ask to play with a better player. If someone had told me at the beginning of this season that I would get two golds and one bronze at the Europeans I wouldn’t think it would happen. I knew Will and I might be able to take gold, but I didn’t expect gold in the singles at such a young age. I couldn’t have done it without British Para Table Tennis and Brighton Table Tennis Club. I just want to keep on having fun and try to get to the Paralympic final in LA.”
Bayley paid tribute to the late British Para Table Tennis Performance Director Gorazd Vecko, who passed away last month.
“I just want to say thank you to Gorazd’s family and everyone back home for the support and the messages,” he said. “As a team we did it for Gorard – we fought for every point and never gave up. He was with us, and he’ll be with us for LA as well.”
Men’s class 14
Will Bayley and Theo Bishop were taking on the defending champions Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault and they had chances at 10-7 to take the first set before the World and Paralympic bronze medallists and world ranked number two pair from France won it 11-9. Bayley and Bishop fought hard, but class 8 European champion Berthier started to dominate with his powerful forehand and after taking the second set 11-7 the French pair took the third 11-8 and the match 3-0.
“I actually felt very confident going in to the match that we could win,” said Bayley, “and I didn’t ever feel we were out of the match, but Berthier is a very good player and very strong. I felt we had the ability to stop him, but we have to commit to a game plan. I don’t mind losing trying to take that part of his game away, but I think we lost letting him play the way he can play and that was the most upsetting thing about today.
“We have to try and find a way to stop him attacking everything and that is just tactics and making sure we are brave and take risks at times to stop him from doing that. It’s easier said than done – they do that against a lot of teams so it is something we can work on.
“I’m very proud of what Theo and I have achieved. We fought back from being down and out against Denmark and we had a really good win against JP and Paredis who are a really good 14 points team and can beat anyone on their day. Today we had really good chances in the first set at 10-7 and 4-1 in the second so we’re there or thereabouts and that is a good thing. It is just a shame that we couldn’t deliver in the final as much as I think we can do. I think we can play a lot better than that so that is frustrating.”
Competing in his first major final 22-year-old Bishop’s disappointment at losing showed the extent of his ambition.
“I’m learning a lot,” he said. “Every time I come to a tournament and step on the court I think I’m getting slightly better. This was a very difficult match both on the table and mentally afterwards. I don’t think I played nearly as well as I can. I do agree with Will that if we play the right way and stop Berthier from controlling the game we can definitely win, but I don’t think Will had enough back up today to stop that happening so I’m really sore.
“As a pair we can win everything - I’ve just got to catch up and pull my weight. I’ve had a good season but I don’t think it is anything special - it is the outcome from what I’ve been doing these past four or five years, just grinding every day. I know that if I keep working like that I can go further and further. Next week hopefully I’ll be able to take the emotion out of it and work on what I need to work on to get better.
“Coming into this week I would have taken two medals to be honest. I’m sure once I get home and relax and look back on what I’ve done I’ll be really proud and happy. I’m just desperate to do it again and go even further next time.”
Women’s class 14
Bly Twomey and Fliss Pickard raced into a 5-0 lead and took the first set 11-8 against Juliane Wolf and Stephanie Grebe but with class 8 European champion Wolf using her power to great effect the World and Paralympic silver medallists from Germany came back to take the next two 11-5 and although Twomey and Pickard kept fighting they lost the fourth 11-9 and the match 3-1.