New names on Michael Hawkesworth National Championships Roll of Honour
Day one of the Michael Hawkesworth National Championships in Sheffield produced some very competitive matches and notable performances that highlighted the growth of Para table tennis in the UK.
In the absence of a number of the Performance athletes it was a chance for some of the promising young players to challenge for the titles and 19-year-old Jacob Wicks secured his first National title in class 6 with 3-0 wins against Fliss Pickard and Dan Thomson.
“I’m so glad to do it finally,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming and I’ve been training a lot so it’s nice to see it paying off.”
The Welshman from Cwmbran has recently moved to Sheffield where he combines training with the British squad with studying policing at Sheffield Hallam University.
“Moving to Sheffield has helped so much,” he said. “I wouldn’t be playing at this level if I hadn’t moved here and had the ability to train every day with top coaches and top players. Playing in the French Open last week was good – to experience the international games, different styles, different coaches.
“It’s so good playing in the Nationals against top players like Fliss. It helps you gain that match experience and learn to stay calm so that when you go abroad, and you have the opportunity to play these players you can be as prepared as possible. I just want to try and build on this, gain a world ranking and gain as many points as I can to give me the best chance of fulfilling my dream of playing in the Paralympics.”
Megan Shackleton came agonisingly close to a medal in the women’s class 4 singles in Paris and she came out on top of the round-robin class 3-5 singles, clinching the title by recovering from a set down to beat Simon Heaps 3-1.
“It feels like quite a long time since Paris,” she said. “We’ve been back in training for a couple of weeks and off the back of the Games I’ve got a lot of things that I want to work on and improve going forwards. It’s been nice to have the opportunity to try and test some of it here and it’s been going well so I’m feeling positive.
“It’s really nice to have a national title especially playing against some of the guys in some of the other classifications – it’s good for them to push me in terms of my movement and thinking tactically and smart. There are obviously some really good players in the mix so I’m really proud to take a national title.”
Following her two Paralympic medals Bly Twomey secured her first National title in class 7. Also played in a round-robin format the class was decided by the final match in which Twomey beat Theo Bishop 3-1.
“It feels amazing to get my first national title in Sheffield and I’m really proud,” said Twomey. “Theo is a brilliant player and he normally beats me so I’m really proud to get the win and to have Ryan Goodier coaching me is amazing as well. He was a massive help to my game – we’ve been best friends for three years and I don’t think I could have done it without him and I’m really proud to have him by my side. I think I’ve improved a lot since Paris. Before I would have felt a lot of pressure in that match but now I just take every game as it comes.”
Fliss Pickard lost out in the class 6 event but produced a great performance to beat defending champion Lianna Shillani Tousi 3-2 to win the women’s open standing class.
“I’ve had a tough month or so since coming back from Paris,” said Pickard, “but I’m glad I kept fighting and that is what I’m all about so to get that win today meant a lot. Winning another National title means an awful lot especially being in class 6 and up against it all the time but I feel that I did myself proud out there and showed everyone what Fliss Pickard is all about.”
Aaron McKibbin beat Billy Shilton 3-0 to win class 8 and other winners were Tom Matthews (class 1), Chris Ryan (class 2), Ross Wilson (class 9-10), Harry Fairchild (class 11) and Lianna Shillani Tousi (Junior).
Aaron McKibbin and Billy Shilton retained their open standing doubles title after beating Ryan Henry and Theo Bishop 3-1 in the final while Megan Shackleton combined with Simon Heaps to win the wheelchair doubles title, beating Chris Ryan and Romain Simon in the final 3-0.