Four gold medals in doubles events for British team in USA
The British Para Table Tennis team finished on a high by taking nine medals in the doubles events at the ITTF World Para Elite Spokane in Washington state, USA, which included gold medals for Will Bayley and Theo Bishop (men’s class 14), Bly Twomey and Fliss Pickard (women’s class 14), Joshua Stacey and Aaron McKibbin (men’s class 18) and Will Bayley and Bly Twomey (mixed class 14).
In an all-GB final in men’s class 14 Billy Shilton and Martin Perry took silver and there were bronze medals for Jack Hunter-Spivey and Chris Ryan (men’s class 8), Billy Shilton and Fliss Pickard (mixed class 14), Martin Perry and Grace Williams (mixed class 14) and Jack Hunter-Spivey and Megan Shackleton (mixed class 10).
Women’s class 14 RR
Bly Twomey and Fliss Pickard led 2-0 against Kim Seongok and Lee Kunwoo and secured a 3-2 win, 11-4 in the deciding set after the Asian Para Games bronze medallists from the Republic of Korea had come back to level at 2-2. Twomey and Pickard were 3-0 winners against Smilla Sand and Cajsa Sadler from Sweden and recovered from dropping the first set against Lethicia Lacerda and Aline Meneses Ferreira from Brazil to level at 1-1 before taking the third set 13-11 and securing gold in the round-robin event 14-12 in the fourth.
“I’m pleased to win gold with Bly,” said Pickard, “especially coming up against a new Brazilian pairing. I thought we played well together although there is still lots to work on but it’s a good step in the right direction.”
“The pairings in this event were really strong,” said Twomey, “and I’m really happy that we were able to pull through some tough matches. Fliss hit some unbelievable forehands and without them I doubt we would have won.”
Men’s class 14
Will Bayley and Theo Bishop led 2-0 against Matias Pino and Ignacio Torres but the experienced Para PanAmerican champions from Chile came back to win 3-2. Bayley and Bishop secured their place in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win against Samuel Altshuler and Cole Rothenberger from USA and won their quarterfinal 3-1 against the Korean pair of Park Hong Kyu and Yang Gui Nam. They came through their semi-final in five sets, taking the deciding set 11-7 after Sam Gustafsson and Jonas Hansson from Sweden had twice come back to level. That set up an all-GB final against Billy Shilton and Martin Perry and Bayley and Bishop were always in control in a 3-0 win.
“It’s unbelievable that Theo and I won gold here,” said Bayley. “We weren’t expected to win but we played so well and had a great win against Sweden in the semi-final which was a very close match. Theo played amazingly in the final and just didn’t miss. It’s always difficult to play teammates but he was outstanding. Overall, a fantastic day and I’m really happy to have won every event I’ve played in out here including the Future tournament last week – four golds - which makes it one of my best tournaments ever.”
Billy Shilton and Martin Perry lost in four close sets to Paulo Salmin and Israel Stroh, the Para PanAmerican silver medallists from Brazil but came through their group after a 3-1 win against Park Hong Kyu and Yang Gui Nam from Republic of Korea. They recovered from losing the first set against Matias Pino and Ignacio Torres to beat the Chileans 3-1 and then came back from 2-1 down to beat Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault, the European champions from France 3-2 before running out of steam in the final against Bayley and Bishop.
“It was a great performance to beat France,” said Perry, “especially after they medalled in Paris last year and are world number two at the moment. Playing against teammates is never fun but I’m glad it happened in the later stages, and we all medalled. Lots of positives for sure moving forward.”
“We played well and I’m happy to get to the final,” said Shilton. “Theo and Will were just too good.”
Paul Karabardak teamed up with the class 7 Nigerian Temitope Ogunsanya and they did not progress from their group after losing 3-0 to Sam Gustafsson and Jonas Hansson and 3-0 to Lee Changsik and Lee Se Ho from the Republic of Korea.
Men’s class 18
Joshua Stacey and Aaron McKibbin topped their group after winning 3-0 against Lucas Dos Santos Carvalho from Brazil and Nicklas Westerberg from Sweden and 3-1 against Ma Lin and Nathan Pellissier from Australia. They came through their quarterfinal against Alejandro Diaz and Jose Manuel Ruiz from Spain 3-1 and won their semi-final against Koyo Iwabuchi and Hayuma Abe, the Asian Para Games silver medallists from Japan 3-1. In the final they faced the Belgian pair of Laurens Devos and Ben Despineux and after taking the first two sets they edged a tense third set 17-15 to secure a 3-0 win with their sixth match point.
“Really happy with our doubles,” said McKibbin. “Josh and I were saying that we couldn’t put our finger on why our level had dropped since Paris after it had been so strong, but I think in the semi-final and final we played some of our best stuff. I think we got our flow back and over and above the result I’m glad about that because that’s our strength – working together and working off each other’s shots. That will be what will bring us success in the majors and now I feel we have a platform to build on for the rest of the season.”
“I think Aaron and I got better over the three days that we played together,” said Stacey. “I’d say our semi-final and final today were probably the best showings that we’ve had in a while. I think things clicked a bit more than they usually do and I definitely think there are a lot of positives to take into the prep for the Europeans. There is a lot of work to do, things we’d like to work on and improve but fundamentally I think we were really solid today and we took the opportunities that were presented to us, so very pleased.”
Mixed class 14
Number one seeds Will Bayley and Bly Twomey were 3-0 winners against Yang Gui Nam and Lee Kunwoo from Republic of Korea and secured top place in their group and a bye into the semi-finals with a 3-1 win against Israel Stroh and Aline Meneses Ferreira from Brazil. They came through a tricky match against GB teammates Martin Perry and Grace Williams 3-2, taking the deciding set 11-5 after Perry and Williams had twice come back to level.
In the final Bayley and Twomey faced the Brazilian pair of Paulo Salmin and Lethicia Lacerda and after losing the first set they came back strongly to take the next three sets for a 3-1 win.
“To win both doubles events is amazing,” said Bayley. “Bly and I were really solid. We lost the first set in the final, but we brought each other back. We’ve had a really good start to the season because we’ve won every match so far – gold in Slovenia and now gold in USA – so really happy with that.”
“To have the opportunity to play with such a talented and experienced player as Will is a privilege,” said Twomey. “We just had to play our game and not think about what could happen. Playing in mixed doubles is a lot different to women’s doubles which is a lot about placement whereas in mixed you need to do a lot more with the ball. To reach the final in all three events here is a massive achievement and it’s good to know I’m at the top with all the rest. I couldn’t have reached the finals of the doubles without Andrew (BPTT head coach Andrew Rushton) as he helped us through the tough times and is always there for us when we need him.”
Martin Perry and Grace Williams lost in four close sets to Paulo Salmin and Lethicia Lacerda but secured their place in the knockout stages with 3-0 wins against Samuel Altshuler from USA and Balziya Tash from Kazakhstan and the Swedish pair of Nicklas Westerberg and Cajsa Stadler. They were 3-1 winners against Mathew Britz from New Zealand and Claudio Perez from Mexico before losing in the semi-final to Bayley and Twomey.
“Martin and I played really well,” said Williams. “We’re still developing as a partnership and the fact we are medalling in an Elite tournament is always good and proves we are on the right track.”
Billy Shilton and Fliss Pickard won their opening match 3-1 against Mathew Britz and Claudia Perez and then came through a five-set battle against Sam Gustafsson and Smilla Sand from Sweden, 11-9 in the deciding set. Shilton and Pickard lost in four close sets to Lee Changsik and Kim Seongok from Republic of Korea but progressed to the quarterfinals where they fought back superbly from 2-0 down to beat Israel Stroh and Aline Meneses Ferreira 3-2. That took them through to the semi-finals where they lost in four close sets to Paulo Salmin and Lethicia Lacerda.
“It’s always good playing with Billy,” said Pickard. “He’s so supportive and positive and I think we did well to beat Sweden in the group. We were a bit disappointed with the semi because we had big chances to take it to a fifth set but overall, we can be happy considering we haven’t played together much recently.”
“I thought we could have won our semi,” agreed Shilton, “but it was a great effort.”
Men’s class 8
Jack Hunter-Spivey and Chris Ryan lost their opening match to the Korean World champions Kim Jung-Gil and Kim Young-Gun 3-1 but progressed from their group after beating Robert Cloutier and Peter Isherwood from Canada 3-0 and coming back from 1-0 down to beat the American pair of Zachary Pickett and Jenson Van Emburgh 3-1. Having taken the first set in their semi-final Hunter-Spivey and Ryan came back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 against Lucas Carvalhal and Welder Camargo Knaf but the Brazilians took the deciding set 11-5.
“It’s been a pleasure to play with Chris,” said Hunter-Spivey. “We had some hard-fought battles that we could have come through and we decided we could quite easily have won this tournament so I’m really looking forward to where our partnership can go.”
“It’s been exciting playing with Jack and learning how we can gel together,” said Ryan. “We had some good wins, and it was tough just losing to Brazil but definitely positive signs for such a new pairing.”
Mixed class 10 RR
Jack Hunter-Spivey and Megan Shackleton were 3-0 winners against the Americans Zachary Pickett and Liu Wei and then lost 3-0 to Jang Yeongjin and Moon Sunghye from the Republic of Korea. They fought back well after losing the first set to beat the second Korean pair Park Jae Hyeon and Jung Young A 3-1 but had to settle for bronze after losing their final round-robin match to Lucas Carvalhal and Joyce De Oliveira from Brazil. They had their chances to take both of the first two sets but lost them 14-12 13-11 and the Brazilian pair completed a 3-0 win 11-4 in the third.
“I think we’ve played some positive stuff this tournament,” said Shackleton. “Obviously frustrating that we couldn’t close out the first two sets against Brazil but we’re building and getting stronger ready for the Europeans.”
“It’s disappointing that we lost that last match,” said Hunter-Spivey. “I think we are building towards the Euros and I’m looking forward to what we’re doing. We’re getting to a level now where we’re getting better and better and we just need to play more tournaments together and the more we gel the better we’ll get.”
Men’s class 4
Rob Davies and Tom Matthews lost their opening match 3-0 to Kang Chang Young and Park Jin Cheol from Republic of Korea but kept themselves in contention with a 3-0 win against Michael Godfrey and James Segrest from USA. They started well against the class 2 pair of Iranildo Conceicao Espindola and Guilherme Marcio Da Costa, taking the first set before the Para PanAmerican champions from Brazil edged a tight second set 15-13 and went on to secure a 3-1 win.
Women’s class 5-10
Megan Shackleton and her Brazilian partner Joyce De Oliveira, the class 3 world number two faced two pairs from the Republic of Korea in their group. They lost 12-10 in the deciding set to Jung Young A and Moon Sunghye, the Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallists and 11-6 in the deciding set against Seo Su Yeon and Yoon Jiyu, having twice come back to level the match.