Theo Bishop
Date and Place of Birth: 22/05/2003, Bury
Hometown: Rossendale
Currently lives: Sheffield
TT Class: 7
Current world ranking: 31
International debut: Spanish Open 2018
Theo was born with cerebral palsy and started playing table tennis at school at the age of 10 while he was recovering from surgery.
“I’d always been very sporty and played football and cricket,” he explained, “and then I had major surgery in the USA and while I was recovering I couldn’t do those sports as I couldn’t run around. I think my teachers noticed that was annoying me and when a table tennis coach came to my school they realised that was a sport I could play.”
Theo was invited to his local club where BPTT Performance squad athlete Fliss Pickard was a member and with her as a role model and mentor he began to improve.
“I was always competitive so as soon as I started playing I was always looking at the better players and wanting to beat them,” explained Theo. “Once you start beating them then there is always someone else to beat so you start getting better and better. Table tennis can be a physical game but it is also mental, so it is not just about having better physical attributes than someone else. Fliss and I are quite similar and everything I had been through in terms of not improving as much as I wanted and getting annoyed, she had been through the previous year. She understood what I was going through and that was massive as it helped me to get through it.”
Theo joined BPTT in 2015 and made his international debut in Spain in 2018. His first international win in singles came in the Costa Brava Spanish Open in 2021 and he has continued to improve, taking bronze with Joshua Stacey in the men’s class 18 doubles in the Egypt Open in 2022 – his first international medal. In June 2022 he represented GB at the European Para Youth Games, reaching the quarterfinals of the men’s class 7 singles and taking silver in the men’s class 16 doubles with Ryan Henry.
He achieved his first gold medal in the US Open in July 2023, combining with Will Bayley to win the men’s class 14 doubles, and made his major championship debut in Sheffield two months later where he beat higher ranked opponents to progress from his group and beat the very experienced Miroslav Jambor from Slovakia, bronze medallist in 2019 and a former class 8 Paralympic medallist, before impressing in a four-set quarterfinal loss to the reigning European champion Jean-paul Montanus.
“I really think I’ve made a breakthrough,” said Theo. “There is always that thing in the back of my head saying maybe I was just playing well but I do think something has clicked at this tournament and I can bring out my level better than what I could in the past and that is massive for me and I just hope it continues.”
2024 Results
Astana Para Open, Kazakhstan – silver, men’s singles (class 7); QF, men’s doubles (class 18)
Brazil Open – QF, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14)
US Open – QF, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14)
2023 Results
French Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); L16, men’s doubles (class 18); QF, mixed doubles (class 14)
Finland Open – QF, men’s singles (class 7); QF, men’s doubles (class 18); QF, mixed doubles (class 14)
European Championships, Sheffield, UK – QF, men’s singles (class 7)
US Open – QF, men’s singles (class 7); gold, men’s doubles (class 14)
Polish Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 18), group stages, mixed doubles (class 14)
Slovenia Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14); group stages, mixed doubles (class 14)
Montenegro Para Championships – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); L16, men’s doubles (class 18); group stages, mixed doubles (class 17)
Lignano Masters Open, Italy – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14)
Costa Brava Spanish Open – L16, men’s singles (class 7); QF, men’s doubles (class 14); group stages, mixed doubles (class 17-20)
2022 Results
Greek Para Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 18)
Finland Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, mixed doubles (class 14)
European Para Youth Games, Finland – QF, men’s singles (class 7); silver, men’s doubles (class 16)
Montenegrin Para Championships – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14); group stages, mixed doubles (class 14)
Slovenia Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14)
French Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14); group stages, mixed doubles (class 17-20)
Egypt Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); bronze, men’s doubles (class 18)
2021 Results
French Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Costa Brava Spanish Open – QF, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s teams (class 6-7)
2019 Results
Spanish Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s teams (class 7)
2018 Results
Spanish Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 7); group stages, men’s teams (class 7)
Career highlights:
2024 Astana Para Open, Kazakhstan – silver, men’s singles (class 7)
2023 European Championships, Sheffield, UK – QF, men’s singles (class 7)
US Open – gold, men’s doubles (class 14)
2022 European Para Youth Games, Finland – QF, men’s singles (class 7); silver, men’s doubles (class 16)
Egypt Open – bronze, men’s doubles (class 18)