Thakker takes silver in Kazakhstan
Shae Thakker took silver in the men’s class 10 singles at the ITTF World Para Challenger Astana tournament in Kazakhstan today and there were also bronze medals for Plymouth teenager Bailey Page in men’s class 7 and Fliss Pickard in women’s class 6.
Men’s class 10 RR
In the opening match of the round-robin men’s class 10 Shae Thakker won the battle of the Brits against Max Flint 3-1 and was then a 3-0 winner against Makhanbet Nassikhan from Kazakhstan. He was impressive in beating the Russian Ivan Karpov 3-0 and had his chances to take the second set against Igor Misztal before the World number 10 from Poland edged it 12-10 and went on to win 3-0.
“I’m pleased with my singles results out here in Kazakhstan,” said Thakker, “and delighted to achieve a silver medal to reflect the hard work the coaches and I have been putting in, especially since I completed my Masters at Sheffield Hallam University. I think the tournament has highlighted the importance of getting some extra match play back in England so that I’m better prepared for these international tournaments. However, I’ve had some good wins and a difficult loss to Misztal that I’ll reflect on to improve further. I would also like to say thank you to Fran (BPTT physio Fran Lace) for helping me with some recent niggles, which has been so influential in my results out here.”
Flint lost a tight first set against Igor Misztal 12-10 and the Pole went on to take the match 3-0. The Loughborough University student recovered from losing the first set 11-0 against Makhanbet Nassikhan to win 3-1 but missed out on bronze after losing 3-1 to Ivan Karpov.
Men’s class 7
After taking two medals in the European Para Youth Games last week 19-year-old Bailey Page showed his character and potential with a battling 3-2 win against Daniil Domanevskii, taking the deciding set 12-10 after the Russian World number 16 had come back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2. Page fought back from 2-1 down to beat Kai Skibbe from Germany 3-2 and progressed to the semi-finals as group runner-up after losing 3-1 to Kosuke Hemmi, the 2024 New Taipei City Para Open gold medallist from Japan.
In the semi-final Page took on the number one seed Michal Deigsler and he took the second set 11-4 to level at 1-1 before the World number four from Poland took the next two sets 11-9 11-7 for a 3-1 win.
“I’m very proud to win my first senior international singles medal,” said Page. “I feel I have produced some very good table tennis this week and shown I can compete at a very high level. All my matches were very close, and this shows I can dig deep and find a way to win. I was particularly happy beating the World number 16 – although I was 2-0, 10-6 up and he came back to level at 2-2 I didn’t panic and found a way to win. Playing Deigsler I found if I was positive and committed to my game I gave myself the best chance to win and I played very well in a tight match.
“Overall, this has been a great tournament for me and I’m very pleased to see my hard work paying off. However, there is always room for more improvement, and I look forward to putting my mistakes right in the training hall.”
Women’s class 6
Fliss Pickard recovered from dropping the first set to beat Barbara Jablonka from Poland 3-1 and was then beaten 3-0 by the 35-year-old Russian newcomer Gulmira Gonobina. That took Pickard through to the semi-finals as group runner-up where she faced another Russian in the veteran former World number one Raisa Chebanika. The two last played in 2019 with Chebanika leading 14-1 in their head-to-head and it was desperately close today with Pickard twice coming back to level before the London 2012 Paralympic champion edged the deciding set 12-10 to win 3-2.
“It’s been difficult here,” said Pickard, “but these are the matches I came for. Raisa played well today and has been all season to be fair. Now I have more matches in the bank ready for the USA next week.”
Men’s class 6
Dan Thomson was a 3-1 winner against Kanat Ussenov from Kazakhstan and was then beaten 3-1 by Piotr Manturz, having lost 3-0 to the Polish World number 16 in the European Para Youth Games last week. Thomson progressed to the knockout stages as group 2 runner-up and lost his quarterfinal 3-0 to the 29-year-old Russian Timur Khusnullin, competing in his first tournament since 2019.
Jacob Wicks began with a 3-1 win against Nurkozha Kadyrbek from Kazakhstan and had his chances to take the first set against Lee Se Ho before the Korean edged it 17-15 and went on to win 3-0. Wicks did not progress from group 3 after a 3-0 loss to Khusnullin.
Men’s class 8
Ryan Henry was a 3-0 winner against Mohit Singh from Germany and led Maksym Chudzicki 2-1 before the World number eight from Poland came back to win 3-2. Henry progressed as group 1 runner-up and was beaten 3-0 in the quarterfinal by the Russian World number 20 Artem Iakovlev, gold medallist in the World Para Future Lignano in Italy earlier this year.
National Junior champion Jaiden Caldeira led former World and Paralympic team champion Piotr Grudzien 2-0 before the hugely experienced World number 10 from Poland edged the fourth set 13-11 to level at 2-2 and went on to take the deciding set 11-6 for a 3-2 win. Caldeira lost 3-1, 12-10 in the fourth against the Russian Nikita Novikov and did not progress from group 2 after losing a close match against last year’s Paralympic World Qualification Tournament bronze medallist Ali Makhulbekov from Kazakhstan 11-8 in the deciding set having twice come back to level against the World number 22.