Three singles bronze medals for British squad in European Para Youth Games

British Para Table Tennis Pathway athletes Max Flint (men’s class 10), Bailey Page (men’s class 7) and Dan Thomson (men’s class 6) all took bronze in their respective singles at the European Para Youth Games which are taking place in Istanbul, Turkey from July 25-27.

Max Flint, 21, from Guildford secured first place in his group with 3-0 wins against Mert Caliskan from Turkey, Daniel Oanta from Romania and Kristijan Bozek from Croatia which gave him a bye into the semi-finals. He led 2-0 against Lorenzo Magarelli before the 23-year-old Italian, who took bronze in the European Para Youth Games in 2017, edged a tense third set 15-13 and went on to take the next two 11-9 11-8 for a 3-2 win.

“I won my group by playing very well and doing the basics right,” said Flint. “After going 2-0 up in my semi-final it just shows the match is never over. Overall, I think the singles has gone well and with lots of ups and downs I feel there is a lot to take away and implement in training.”

Bailey Page, 18, from Plymouth showed all his fighting qualities in coming through his opening match against 14-year-old Eliott Denoyelle from France 3-2, 12-10 in the deciding set and then secured his place in the semi-finals as winner of Group 2 with 3-0 wins against Filip Prchlik from Czechia and Sami Keles from Turkey. Page fought back from 2-0 down against Tahir Sahin to level at 2-2 but the 12-year-old from Turkey edged the deciding set 12-10 to win 3-2.

“I’m very happy to win my first international singles medal,” said Page. “I managed to get through a tricky first match and then had a great win against Prchlik which meant that I topped my group. The semi-final was very tight, and I felt I could have done better in the first two sets but I’m very happy with the way I fought back to give myself a chance at 2-2. Overall, a good tournament for me with a lot of learning opportunities – winning a medal with so many areas I can improve is a promising sign.”

Dan Thomson, 20, from Brighton also fought back well from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 against the number one seed Benedikt Muller but the 22-year-old World number 15 from Germany took the deciding set 11-7 for a 3-2 win. Thomson secured his place in the semi-finals with a 3-1 win against Gabriel Diez Alvarez from Spain and lost in three close sets to 21-year-old Piotr Manturz, the World number 18 from Poland.

“I’m pleased with my singles competition,” said Thomson. “I had a difficult first match but adapted my tactics and found a way back into it and although I lost the match, I took some positives and things to work on from it and then adapted my game for the second match. The semi-final was another difficult match, and I tried to change things up, but his level is better than mine. I’ve taken some positives and plenty of points to work on to improve myself going forwards.”

The tournament continues with the doubles events that conclude tomorrow.