Fourteen British players fighting for singles medals at the European Championships
At the end of the second day of the ITTF European Para Table Tennis Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden 15 British players had progressed from their groups to the knockout stages of the singles. Eleven players, including men’s class 7 defending champion Will Bayley have earned the chance to compete for medals tomorrow by reaching the quarter-finals and Tom Matthews (men’s class 1), 15-year-old Bly Twomey (women’s class 7) and Grace Williams (women’s class 8) are assured of at least a bronze medal having progressed to the semi-finals of their respective events.
Men’s class 1
Four-time European champion Rob Davies was impressive in beating Sylvio Keller, the former European bronze medallist from Switzerland 3-0 and was then involved in a five-set battle with Federico Falco. The Welshman led 6-3 in the deciding set but the Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist from Italy came back to level at 6-6 and clinched a 3-2 win, 14-12 on his third match point. With Falco beating Keller, Davies progressed from the group as runner-up and will play Adam Urlauber from Hungary in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
After twice coming back to level against Endre Major, Tom Matthews fought back from 5-1 down in the deciding set to take it 12-10 and beat the defending champion and World number five from Hungary 3-2. He secured top place in his group and a bye through to the semi-finals with a 3-0 win against Marian Kamien, the World number 21 from Slovakia.
“It’s always a fight against Major and we always go to a fifth set,” said Matthews, “so it was a great match to come through and I’m happy with the performance. Having been in major semi-finals before definitely gives me confidence for the next round. Winning my first major title would mean the world but I’m just going to keep going match by match and let’s see where we get to.”
Men’s class 2
Chris Ryan lost his opening match to World number three Fabien Lamirault, the reigning World champion and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion from France 3-1 but secured his place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Tomasz Jakimczuk, the World and European doubles bronze medallist from Poland. He produced a superb performance to beat World number five Peter Lovas, the Paralympic doubles champion from Slovakia 3-0 and will play World number one Rafal Czuper from Poland in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
“I’m extremely proud of that performance,” said Ryan. “I’ve got so much respect for Lovas – he’s ruined many tournaments for me this year and last year and all my practice goes into trying to be able to beat these guys and to do that here is amazing. I’ve got a crazy amount of respect for Czuper. He’s the reason I play the way I play – he’s one of the first people I saw on YouTube so it will be exciting to play him again.”
Men’s class 4-5
Jack Hunter-Spivey came back from 10-7 down in the third set to take it 12-10 and beat class 4 Henrik Andersson from Austria 3-0 before progressing through to the round of 16 with a 3-1 win against 21-year-old Isak Nyholm, the class 5 World number 11 from Sweden. He was unlucky to be drawn against World number one Valentin Baus in the round of 16 and the World and European champion from Germany was a 3-0 winner.
Men’s class 6
Paul Karabardak fought back from 10-6 down in the fifth set to level at 10-10 and had match point at 11-10 against Marios Chatzikyriakos before the former European team silver medallist from Greece edged the set 13-11 and the match 3-2. The Welshman showed all his character and determination to come through another five-set battle against Esteban Herrault, taking the fifth set 11-9 after the World number 10 and European doubles champion from France had levelled at 2-2. He secured his place in the knockout stages with a 3-1 win against 21-year-old Aaro Makela from Finland and received a bye through to the quarter-finals where he will play the World, Paralympic and European champion Matteo Parenzan from Italy.
Martin Perry came back from dropping the first set to beat Leon Schuep from Switzerland 3-1 and edged the fourth set 12-10 to secure a 3-1 win against Benedikt Muller from Germany. He progressed straight through to the quarter-finals tomorrow as group winner after beating Jan Malec from Czechia 3-1 and will play Chatzikyriakos.
“I’ve had three really tricky opponents,” said Perry. “I’ve lost to Muller in the past and the other two opponents I didn’t really know what to expect so I’m very happy to win every match 3-1. I feel that I can really thrive at the major championships and despite the new system, for me the European Championships is still the biggest tournament of this year and I’m really looking forward to the quarter-final tomorrow and fighting for the medal that I know I can win.”
Men’s class 7
Will Bayley began the defence of his title with a 3-0 win against Henrik Brammer, the European doubles silver medallist from Denmark and secured his place in the knockout stages as group winner with a 3-0 win against 16-year-old Filip Prchlik from Czechia, gold medallist in the World Para Future Lahti earlier this year. As number one seed he received a bye into the quarter-finals tomorrow where he will play the Swedish World number eight Jonas Hansson.
“It’s great – to get a good start is important,” said Bayley. “Yesterday I just wanted to get the first match underway and to show how hard I’ve worked in training and do the business. It’s a good start but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself – I’ve just got to focus on training hard and look forward to Saturday.”
Theo Bishop lost 3-1 to Bjoern Schnake, the World number six and European bronze medallist from Germany but progressed to the round of 16 after a 3-0 win against Hadar Bahat from Israel. He produced a gutsy performance to come back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 against Sam Gustafsson and held his nerve to take the deciding set 11-7 after the World number 13 from Sweden had worked his way back from 8-2 down to within a point of drawing level. Bishop plays Irishman Patrick Vaughan in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
“I changed my tactics,” said Bishop, “changed my serve and just became a bit more positive and not as passive. I’m really proud of that match to be honest. At 8-7 in the fifth I was terrified but although I’d made a couple of mistakes I also think he played well so I had to back myself that I was doing the right things and if I could keep this level I knew I could win. Weirdly Patrick and I trained together for about a week two weeks ago, so we know each other pretty well and I’m feeling good.”
Men’s class 8
Aaron McKibbin was a 3-0 winner against the Asian Youth Para Games 2021 gold medallist Seyed Hosseinipour from the Refugee Paralympic Team and secured his place in the knockout stages as group winner with a 3-1 win against 17-year-old Yehonatan Levi from Israel. As number one seed he received a bye into the round of 16 and looked to be in control at 2-0 up against Alejandro Diaz but the European doubles bronze medallist from Spain levelled at 2-2 and saved four match points before McKibbin clinched a very tense deciding set 14-12.
“It was very tough,” said McKibbin. “I’ve played him a couple of times this season and had a close match with him in Slovenia then beat him quite comfortably in France. I think I just took the confidence from the other matches against him and knew I had the ability to pull through - I just had to keep fighting and hopefully it would be enough and luckily it was.”
Billy Shilton won 3-0 against Yordan Mitev from Bulgaria and secured his place in the knockout stages with a hard-fought 3-1 win against 26-year-old Ricard Sabio Ruiz from Spain. He led 2-0, 10-5 against
Nicklas Westerberg and survived a late rally by the former class 7 European bronze medallist from Sweden to edge the third set 12-10 and secure his place in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win.
Ryan Henry lost his first major championship match to Emil Andersson, the former World number one and 2011 European champion from Sweden. He had his chances in a tight first set against the very experienced Gyula Zborai before losing it 14-12 and again in the third but the former World number two and two-time European silver medallist from Hungary edged it 14-12 to secure a 3-0 win.
Men’s class 9
Joshua Stacey was a comfortable 3-0 winner against Tigran Petrosyan from Armenia and then beat Sweden’s three-time European bronze medallist Daniel Gustafsson 3-0 to secure top position in his group and earn a bye through to the quarter-finals where he will take on Lev Kats from Ukraine.
“I’m really pleased,” said Stacey, “especially with the last match against Gustafsson. I’ve had trouble with him – not too much recently but definitely in the past he’s been someone I’ve struggled with a bit. I think I did well to go 2-0 up quite comfortably and he found a little bit of a footing in the third set but Misa (coach Misaki Morizono) gave me a few tactics just to play into different areas and that is what made the difference.”
Men’s class 10
On his major championship debut Shae Thakker was drawn in a tough group but was not disgraced despite a 3-0 loss to World number six Krisztian Gardos, the World and European bronze medallist from Austria. He secured his first win with a 3-0 defeat of Phillippe Hein from Luxembourg but did not progress after a 3-0 loss to the giant Patryk Chojnowski, the reigning World, Paralympic and European champion from Poland.
Women’s class 4-5
Megan Shackleton recovered from dropping the first set 11-3 to beat 20-year-old Merve Ozsu from Turkey 3-1 and was then impressive in beating Caroline Tabib, the class 5 World number three and former World and European medallist from Israel 3-0. She made it three from three with a 3-0 win against Marina Minic from Serbia to progress through to the quarter-finals as group winner.
“I’ve started with good intensity,” said Shackleton. “My first match I was a little slow and I wanted to build on that and set the tone for the next few days but I’m really proud of the last two performances and it will give me some good confidence going forwards. For me to beat Caroline 3-0 shows me that I’m putting the pressure on at the right moments and hopefully I can carry on doing the same for the next few matches.”
Women’s class 6
Fliss Pickard edged a tight first set 12-10 against Emelie Endre and although the World number 15 from Sweden levelled at 1-1 Pickard went on to win 3-1. She fought back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 against World number seven Stephanie Grebe but the World, Paralympic and European doubles silver medallist from Germany took the deciding set 11-6. Pickard progressed to the quarter-finals as group runner-up and will play Gabriela Constantin from Romania.
Women’s class 7
Bly Twomey was a 3-1 winner against 20-year-old Jenny Slettum from Norway and secured top place in her group and a bye through to the semi-finals with a 3-0 win against Valentina Marcheva, the former two-time European bronze medallist from Bulgaria.
“I’m really happy with the way I’m playing,” said Twomey, “and I think all I can do is improve. I’ve played against two really awkward players so far and I’m really looking forward to the semi-final. It does take a bit of the pressure off me knowing I’ve got at least a bronze medal which is what I got two years ago so that means a lot.”
Women’s class 8
Grace Williams produced a great performance to beat the reigning World champion and 10-time European champion Thu Kamkasomphou from France 3-1 and took the number one seed’s position in the draw and a bye into the semi-finals after a 3-1 win against German teenager Maike Bannuscher.
“It’s always tough going up against the top players,” said Williams, who took European silver in 2023. “Two years ago I beat Thu in the fifth set in the semi-final so to play her first match especially having had a day off yesterday it was hard to get my energy going and it was a nice feeling to win. It gives me a lot of confidence, especially now I’ve got a medal under my belt - I feel a bit calmer and more confident. The group matches have probably opened up the competition a bit more so I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and I’ll just take one match at a time.”
ALL PHOTOS: ITTF/Manfred Schillings