Shilton beats Bayley to take English National title

Billy Shilton defeated Will Bayley 3-0 in a high-quality match to take the Para Class 6-10 title at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships in Nottingham today.

Shilton secured his place in the final by beating Bailey Page 3-0 and Shae Thakker 3-1 while Bayley topped his group after 3-0 wins against Dan Thomson and Max Flint. Shilton made the better start in the final and led 5-0 before Bayley came back to level at 6-6 and then moved to 10-7. Shilton levelled at 10-10 and finally clinched the set 16-14 on his third set point having saved six set points against him.

The 27-year-old from Stonehouse in Gloucestershire raced through the second set 11-4 with some great attacking play to lead 2-0 and although Bayley kept fighting and produced some superb shots and determined defence it was not enough to stop Shilton taking the set 13-11 and the match 3-0.

“It was a tough match,” said Shilton, who came here on the back of winning gold in the men’s class 8 singles at the ITTF World Para Challenger Wladyslawowo in Poland earlier this month. “Obviously Will and I play together a lot, and it was always going to be a very close game and I’m just really happy to get through that one. I’ve done a lot of work in Sheffield at the national centre with the other guys in the Para team and I’ll just keep working hard and hopefully some more good results will come.”

Thomas Hepburn claimed the Para Class 1-5 title beating Nathan Drayner in the final. The 21-year-old former national sailing champion from Weymouth, came through as winner of Group 2 with 3-0 wins against Dave Lawrence and Jack Silberston, while 33-year-old Drayner topped Group 1 after a 3-0 win against Bethany Kelf and a 3-1 defeat of Andrew Green.

In a closely-contested final Hepburn took the first set 11-7 before class 1 Drayner came back to take the second set 11-5 with a series of superbly executed tetraloops. The greater reach and power of class 4 Hepburn proved decisive as he took the third set 11-6 and the fourth 11-3 for a 3-1 win.

“I was very nervous,” admitted Hepburn, “and I’m glad to have won. I’m a bit speechless but it is a great feeling. Having just one court and everyone watching you increases the nerves. Every single serve you think ‘no mistakes’ so it’s a lot of pressure. Next week I’m making my international debut in Spain, so this is a great warm-up for my first international event.”

Photos by Michael Loveder