Bayley hoping for successful return to USA

World champion Will Bayley is included in a squad of seven British athletes that will travel to the USA this week to compete in the ITTF World Para Challenger Spokane (August 6-9) and the ITTF World Para Elite Spokane (August 11-15) in Washington State. The Brighton-based 37-year-old won both tournaments last year and is hoping to repeat that performance and enhance his chances of retaining his World title later this year.

“It’s always good to go back when you’ve won somewhere,” said Bayley, “and I really like it there – the venue is amazing and makes you feel special because it is a world-class facility. I get excited when I play in halls like that and it will be good competition – there are some very decent players going so it will be a challenge and I’m looking forward to it.”

Having regained the world number one ranking in men’s class 7 after winning Elite gold in China in June, Bayley lost in the quarterfinal to eventual gold medallist Sayed Youssef from Egypt in the ITTF World Para Elite Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand last month but feels that the experience will prove valuable when he returns to Thailand for the World Championships in November.

“This has been the most long-distance travelling I’ve done and the most competitions I’ve played in a short space of time,” he said, “but you learn from it and try and take as much as you can especially when you lose. I struggled a bit with sleeping in Thailand, and on the table that can affect your decision making and I think I suffered with that a bit. I learnt a lot about how I can handle it better in the World Championships because it is going to be important how I deal with that - how can I handle my body better and focus on rest and recovery a lot more when I go to the World Championships to make sure I give myself the best chance to win.”

Also competing in Spokane is 16-year-old Bly Twomey, who won women’s class 7 gold in both the Future and Elite tournaments in Thailand and will also renew her doubles partnership with Fliss Pickard with whom she won Paralympic bronze in Paris 2024.

The full British squad for the ITTF World Para Challenger Spokane and ITTF World Para Elite Spokane is:
Will Bayley, 37, Tunbridge Wells/Brighton (class 7)
Lowri Hurd, 18, Grantham/Bedford (class 9)
Paul Karabardak, 40, Swansea (class 6)
Aaron McKibbin, 34, London (Wandsworth)/Epsom (class 8)
Felicity Pickard, 31, Burnley/Sheffield (class 6)
Joshua Stacey, 26, Cardiff/Sheffield (class 9)
Bly Twomey, 16, Brighton (class 7)