Brilliant Bayley through to Paralympic Final in Paris

Will Bayley produced a brilliant performance in his men’s class 7 singles semi-final this morning to beat two-time European champion and World number four Jean-paul Montanus 3-0 and is through to the final at 19:15 local time this evening.

Bayley lost the European final to Montanus in 2015 but has won their last four meetings, including the finals of the World Championships in 2022 and the European Championships last year. Despite this the Dutchman is an always dangerous opponent with his powerful forehand and Bayley was focused from the first ball, never really giving his opponent a chance to get a foothold in the match, taking the first set 11-7 and then securing a 3-0 win, 11-6 11-2.

“He’s probably one of the most dangerous players in the world for me to play because he is one of the best,” said Bayley. “He’s won a lot and he’s a great player. I’ve been looking at tactics for the last three years to try and beat him. I remember when we were going into matches and he was the favourite against me a few years ago. I’ve got so much respect for him, and I was so pleased to deliver that game plan under that kind of pressure because it’s not easy and I delivered it perfectly. Because of my disability I have to play perfectly to beat him, and I think I did that today and I’m proud of myself for that.”

Bayley will play World number three Yan Shuo in tonight’s final in a repeat of the final in Tokyo that the Chinese player won 3-1.

“I feel really focused,” said Bayley. “I’ve always wanted to come here and try and win the gold and when I got to the end of this match I wanted to keep as much energy as possible. I didn’t celebrate or anything or enjoy myself too much because I’ve got a huge match ahead of me later - the biggest match of my career - so I want to make sure I’m ready for that.”

Welshman Rob Davies takes on Yunier Fernandez from Cuba in the Final of men’s class 1 at 14:00 local time.