Aaron McKibbin

Date and place of birth: 27/08/1991, London
Hometown: London (Wandsworth)
Lives: Epsom
TT Class: 8
Current world ranking: 7
International debut: 2009

Aaron’s story:

Aaron was born with bilateral talipese (club foot) and had corrective surgery from the age of one week old.  He played tennis from the age of four to 14 before taking up table tennis at school and quickly showed potential but had reservations when his coach first suggested he try out for the GB Para squad. 

“I didn’t consider myself to be disabled,” he explains, “but I gave it a try and enjoyed it so much that I decided it was what I wanted to do. I was a bit arrogant at first because I’d played able bodied table tennis and I thought Para table tennis would be easy but I soon realised how good the standard was.”

Aaron made his international debut in 2009 and won men’s class 6-8 Paralympic team bronze in London 2012, sitting on the bench while Ross Wilson and Will Bayley won the vital bronze medal match against Germany. Four years later the three won bronze again in Rio but this time it was Aaron who secured the medal with victory in the deciding singles match against world champions China having earlier combined with Wilson to win the doubles.

He made significant progress in 2019, breaking into the world’s top 10 in men’s class 8 for the first time with singles medals in Slovenia, Poland and Japan and reaching his first major final, taking silver in the men’s class 8 team event at the European Championships with Ross Wilson and Billy Shilton.

In Tokyo Aaron reached the quarterfinals of the men’s 8 singles, losing in four close sets to the eventual silver medallist Viktor Didukh from Ukraine, and then went on to take bronze in the men’s class 8 team event with Ross Wilson and Billy Shilton – his third consecutive Paralympic medal – after losing in the semi-finals to China.

In 2022 Aaron established himself as one of the leading players in men’s class 8, taking bronze in the Slovenia Open and gold in the Greek Open and then winning his first major singles medal, taking bronze in the World Championships, losing to the eventual gold medallist Viktor Didukh in the semi-finals after coming through a five-set quarterfinal against the World number three and Paralympic bronze medallist Maksym Nikolenko from Ukraine.

Aaron was disappointed to lose in the quarterfinals of the men’s class 8 singles at the European Championships in Sheffield in 2023 although he bounced back to take bronze in the men’s class 14 doubles with Martin Perry, losing a very tight semi-final to the eventual gold medallists Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault from France.

“The singles wasn’t my finest,” he said. “I felt amazing going into the tournament - the preparation has been incredible, and all the team have helped us so much to be ready so that’s on me – I just didn’t bring it on the day. It was tough to reset going into the doubles but I’m very happy to get a major medal again and maybe having a bad major leading into Paris could be a good thing for me. It gives me that reminder that I need to keep working and it’s fine margins. I’m going to be as ready as I can for Paris, and I want to win two medals there.”

When Tokyo was postponed for a year Aaron took the opportunity to complete his degree in sports science and then took a financial marketing course that had been set up for athletes during lockdown. Chelsea fan Aaron is outnumbered by Arsenal fans on the team. Music also plays a big part in his life and helps him to prepare for matches, with hip hop and R&B his favourites.

2024 Results:

US Open – gold, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)

2023 Results:

European Championships, Sheffield, UK – QF, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)

Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8); QF, men’s doubles (class 18)

Greek Para Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 7-8); gold, men’s doubles (class 14)

Lignano Masters Open, Italy – QF, men’s singles (class 8); silver, men’s doubles (class 18); bronze, mixed doubles (class 14)

2022 Results:

World Championships, Spain – bronze, men’s singles (class 8)

Greek Open – gold, men’s singles (class 8)

Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8); L16, men’s doubles (class MD14)

Costa Brava Spanish Open – QF, men’s singles (class 8); silver, men’s doubles (class MS18)

2021 Results:

Paralympic Games, Tokyo – bronze, men’s team (class 8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

2019 Results:

European Championships, Sweden – silver, men’s teams (class 8); L16 men’s singles (class 8)

Japan Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8); silver, men’s teams (class 8)

Polish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8); gold, men’s teams (class 8)

Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

Lignano Master Open, Italy – QF, men’s singles (class 8)

2018 Results:

World Championships, Slovenia – group stages, men’s singles (class 8)

Czech Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8)

Slovenian Open – bronze, men’s teams (class 8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

Slovakia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 8)

Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 8); silver, men’s teams (class 8)

2017 Results:

European Championships, Lasko, Slovenia – bronze, men’s teams (class 8); L16 men’s singles (class 8)

Bayreuth Open, Germany – silver, men’s teams (class 8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

World Team Championships, Slovakia – 7th men’s class 8

Slovenia Open – silver, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

Lignano Master Open, Italy – QF, men’s singles (class 8)

2016 Results:

Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro - bronze, men’s teams (class 6-8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

Slovakia Open - last 16, men’s singles (class 8); QF, men’s teams (class 8)

Slovenia Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

Lignano Master Open, Italy - bronze, men’s teams (class 8); QF men’s singles (class 8)

2015 Results:

China Open - gold, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 8-10)

European Championships, Vejle, Denmark - bronze, men’s teams (class 8); last 16, men’s singles (class 8)

Bayreuth Open, Germany - bronze, men’s teams (class 9); last 16, men’s singles (class 8)

Slovakia Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 9)

Slovenia Open - QF men’s singles (class 8); QF men’s teams (class 10)

Lignano Master Open, Italy - silver, men’s teams (class 8); QF men’s singles (class 8)

Hungarian Open - QF men’s singles (class 8); group stages, men’s teams (class 8)

2014 Results:

World Championships, Beijing, China - last 16, men’s singles (class 8); group stages, men’s teams (class 9-10)

Slovakia Open - silver, men’s teams (class 8); group stages men’s singles (class 8)

Slovenia Open - silver, men’s teams (class 10); last 16 men’s singles (class 8)

Lignano Master Open, Italy - silver, men’s teams (class 8); group stages, men’s singles (class 8)

Career Highlights:

2023:  European Championships, Sheffield, UK – bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)

Greek Para Open – gold, men’s doubles (class 14)

2022:    World Championships, Spain – bronze, men’s singles (class 8)

Greek Open – gold, men’s singles (class 8)

2021:    Paralympic Games, Tokyo – bronze, men’s team (class 8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

2019:    European Championships, Sweden – silver, men’s teams (class 8)

2017:    European Championships, Lasko, Slovenia – bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

Slovenia Open – silver, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

2016:    Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro - bronze medal, men’s teams (class 6-8); QF, men’s singles (class 8)

2015:    China Open - gold, men’s singles (class 8)

European Championships, Vejle, Denmark - bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

Slovakia Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 9)

Lignano Master Open, Italy - silver, men’s teams (class 8)

2014:    World Championships, Beijing, China - last 16, men’s singles (class 8)

Slovakia Open - silver, men’s teams (class 8)

Slovenia Open - silver, men’s teams (class 10)

Lignano Master Open, Italy - silver, men’s teams (class 8)

2013:    European Championships, Lignano, Italy - last 16, men’s singles (class 8)

Bayreuth Open, Germany - bronze, men’s singles (class 8); bronze, men’s teams (class 8)

Slovenian Open - gold, men’s teams (class 8)

2012:    Paralympic Games, London - bronze, men’s teams (class 6-8)

China Para TT Open - gold, men’s teams (class 8)

2011:    European Championships, Split, Croatia - 4th, men’s singles (class 8)

Brazil Open - gold, men’s singles (class 8); gold, men’s teams (class 8)