Bayley and Twomey team up to take gold in Slovenia

Will Bayley and Bly Twomey, gold medallists in the men’s and women’s class 7 singles respectively, combined to take gold in the class 14 mixed doubles on the final day of the ITTF World Para Challenger Lasko in Slovenia today.

The pair, who train together at Brighton Table Tennis Club were 3-0 winners against Tong Chi Ming and Wong Yue Ching from Hong Kong China and progressed to the semi-finals after receiving walkovers in their two other group matches. They took the first set 11-9 against another pair from Hong Kong China, Tong Chi Yung and class 7 World number six Chiu Kan Shan, and then edged a tight second set 13-11 before taking the third 11-5 to secure a 3-0 win and their place in the final.

Bayley and Twomey took the first set against European men’s doubles silver medallist Henrik Brammer from Denmark and class 7 World number eight Smilla Sand from Sweden 11-9 but lost the second 11-8. Undeterred they ran away with the third set 11-3 and completed a 3-1 win, 11-5 in the fourth.

“I must have got a rush of blood to the head in the second set,” said Bayley, “and I started missing everything and played terribly. But Bly held it together and she kept it calm – she didn’t have a go at me which was good and then in the next set I tried to slow it down again, keep the ball on the table and play relaxed and calm and we brought it back. I always believed we were the better team if we did the things we can do and that is what made a big difference in that match.

“I was a bit up and down, but Bly was just solid the whole way through, and it was good to get the win. That is the beauty of doubles – if one player is struggling the other person has to try and encourage them and take over and that is what Bly did really well today. I was struggling but she stayed calm and relaxed and that made me have the opportunity to come back in the match.”

Bayley and Twomey last played together at the European Championships in 2023 since when 15-year-old Twomey has won two Paralympic bronze medals and established herself as one of the top players in the world in women’s class 7.

“We are still getting used to each other and I think we will get much better the more we play together,” said Bayley. “When I see her playing there are so many things that remind me of me – the way she walks around the court and touches the table and the way she plays. We have similar backhands and forehands. It is special to see her do so well - she works so hard and she deserves it. It’s exciting because we haven’t had many opportunities to play doubles together so hopefully it is the start of a long career for us in doubles – she can keep me out of retirement.”

“Will has been my biggest inspiration since I started playing table tennis,” said Twomey, “so just to play with him is incredible. He’s like family and he’s been my coach so I’m really proud to get a gold medal with him. I didn’t think we would do it so soon. I think I’ve improved a lot in two years, and we have improved so much as a pair. I was completely fine when we lost the second set - we just tried to keep the ball on the table and that is what we managed to do and that is how we won. Will has got such a positive mentality and to have him alongside me is amazing. We’re playing together again next week and hopefully we can go for gold again.”

Mixed class 7

Chris Ryan teamed up with Martha Verdin, the class 4 former Para PanAmerican champion from Mexico and after losing the first two sets against class 5 Paralympic bronze medallist Mitar Palikuca and class 2 European silver medallist Ana Zelen they fought back well to take the third 11-3. Ryan and Verdin had chances to level the match at 10-8 in the fourth, but the Serbian pair used their experience to take the set 12-10 and the match 3-1.

Ryan and Verdin never really got going in a 3-0 loss to Eder Rodriguez and Martina Sande from Spain and they did not progress after a 3-0 loss to European champions Thomas Bruechle and Sandra Mikolaschek from Germany.

Mixed class 10

Jack Hunter-Spivey and Megan Shackleton started slowly and found themselves 2-0 down to class 5 former World champion Ali Ozturk and class 4 World and European bronze medallist Irem Oluk from Turkey. They fought back well and saved two match points before taking the third set 14-12 and had chances to level at 2-2 but Ozturk and Oluk edged the fourth 14-12 to secure the match 3-1 on their fifth match point.

Hunter-Spivey and Shackleton lost the first set to class 4 European silver medallist Filip Nachazel from Czechia and Zorica Popadic from Serbia but came back to lead 2-1. They fought back from 8-3 down in the fourth to level at 8-8 before losing it 11-8 and Nachazel and Popadic took the deciding set 11-9.