Three doubles medals for British team in France
Paris 2024 Paralympic medallists Fliss Pickard and Bly Twomey took silver in the women’s class 14 doubles on the last day of the ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines in France today with Tom Matthews and Chris Ryan (men’s class 4) and Martin Perry and Billy Shilton (men’s class 14) taking bronze.
Women’s class 14
Fliss Pickard and Bly Twomey showed all their fighting qualities by twice coming back to level against Thu Kamkasomphou and Morgen Caillaud and then saved a match point before clinching the deciding set 12-10 to beat the European champions from France 3-2. They took the first set against Galina Gorokhovatcenko and Gulmira Gonobina and edged a tight second set 13-11 before completing a 3-0 win against the second Russian pair, 11-4 in the third.
In their final round-robin match Pickard and Twomey faced the number one Russian pair of class 6 world number one Maliak Alieva and class 8 world number seven Elena Litvinenko and after losing a close first set 11-8 they lost the second 11-2. They recovered from 5-0 down in the third set to win it 11-7 but although they kept fighting Alieva and Litvinenko secured a 3-1 win, 11-8 in the fourth to take the gold.
“There are lots of positives to take back from this tournament,” said Twomey. “We were very happy to beat France as they are a very strong team and won the European Championships last year. I think we had our chances in the last match against Russia and had some tight sets but made some unforced errors that I can work on going into the World Championships. As this was only our second tournament together this year I feel we have progressed – I’m very happy with taking silver and excited for what we can do at the World Championships.”
Men’s class 4
In their opening group match Tom Matthews and Chris Ryan lost the first set to Peter Lovas and Jan Riapos 11-4 but came back to take the second 11-7 and the third 11-6 to lead 2-1. The GB pair had come within a point of beating the Paralympic champions from Slovakia at the Elite tournament in Slovenia in May and they were not to be denied this time as a time out call from coach Ross Wilson kept them on track and they completed a 3-1 win, 11-7 in the fourth.
After taking a marathon first set against Dmitrii Chubarov and Dmitrii Lavrov 20-18 they took the second 11-7 to lead 2-0. The Russian pair hit back to take the third 11-9 but Matthews and Ryan took the fourth 11-8 to complete a 3-1 win and progress to the semi-finals as group winners. They started well against Francois Geuljans and Alan Papirer, taking the first set 11-7 but the French pair levelled at 1-1 and again at 2-2 after Matthews and Ryan had taken a tight third set 12-10. In the deciding set the momentum swung one way then the other with the GB pair leading 7-4 then Geuljans and Papirer taking five consecutive points to lead 9-7. Matthews and Ryan levelled at 9-9 then saved a match point at 10-9 down, but Geuljans and Papirer clinched the set 12-10 to win 3-2.
“Tough to lose such a close match but a very positive tournament for me and Chris,” said Matthews. “Chris played really well in this tournament and beating Slovakia is never easy – they are Paralympic champions for a reason. We’ve played them a lot this season so to get the win over them felt amazing and gave me a lot of confidence. Our relationship has been really good and it’s getting better and better so lots to build on for the World Championships and we’re getting stronger which is shown in our results. We’ve been grinding it out and finding our way, but I feel that we’re finally starting to click as a doubles pairing. Really happy and proud of Chris. There’s a lot to build on for my singles as well. I know which direction I’m going in now and I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
“Overall, very happy with how the doubles has gone,” said Ryan. “I think it has been a tough year for us in doubles and to get the results we’ve done this week and particularly the win against Slovakia was a big confidence builder for us both. Obviously, a huge shame to lose to France 12-10 in the fifth but I think we could have won that, and we’ve had good chats about what we could do differently in training and in the future. It’s been a fairly promising tournament for me in both singles and doubles. I didn’t get out of my group but to beat Riapos a second time and go out on countback was a decent performance so back to the drawing board in training and onwards from here.”
Men’s class 14
Martin Perry and Billy Shilton began with a 3-0 win against the two-time Para Pan American champions Matias Pino and Ignacio Torres from Chile and then survived a spirited fightback from Paulo Henrique Fonseca and Joao Pedro Martins Narvais to beat the Brazilian pair 3-1, 11-9 in the fourth. A 3-1 loss to the number two French pair of Kevin Dourbecker and Clement Latorre in their final group match saw them progress to the semi-finals as runners-up where they faced the number one French pair of two-time European champions Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault.
Perry and Shilton are the number one ranked team in the world in men’s class 14 after a successful season, but they never recovered from a slow start here, losing the first nine points and the first set 11-4. They fought back from 5-1 down in the second to lead 6-5 but lost it 11-9 and although they kept battling and took the third set 11-9, Berthier and Herrault completed a 3-1 win, 11-4 in the fourth.
“An incredibly slow start from us today,” said Perry, “and there have been a few games like that this tournament. We’re coming up with a plan for how we can address those issues and start quicker because the World Championships is going to be a straight knockout so we can’t afford to start any match slowly especially if we want to go on and perform our best. It’s the first time we’ve played together this season and not made the final and maybe in a way that’s a good thing as it shows that we can’t rest on our laurels going into these matches because there are a lot of top teams. There won’t be any easy matches at the World Championships and next year when qualification starts for LA28 a lot of new teams are going to come out of the woodwork and do everything they can to try and qualify. We know our top level is the very top level, but we just need to find a way of unlocking that at every opportunity.”
“Disappointing to take the bronze,” said Shilton. “This wasn’t our best tournament together and we weren’t at the level that we expect from ourselves. I think in the next eight weeks before the Worlds we really have to focus on what we can do to be at our best level again because I really believe we can go all the way.”
New combination Paul Karabardak and Aaron McKibbin lost a close first set to Sam Gustafsson and Jonas Hansson 12-10 but took the second 11-4 to level at 1-1 before the world ranked number four pair from Sweden took the third 11-9 and the fourth 11-9 to win 3-1. Karabardak and McKibbin started well against Tobias Glowczyk and Piotr Manturz, taking the first set 11-5 but the Polish pair took the second 11-9 to level at 1-1 and went on to complete a 3-1 win, 11-9 in the fourth. Karabardak and McKibbin did not progress after a 3-0 loss to Berthier and Herrault.