Martin Perry & Billy Shilton (pictured above) produced a superb performance to win gold in the men’s class 14 doubles on the final day of the ITTF World Para Elite Lasko tournament in Slovenia. Fliss Pickard & Grace Williams took bronze in the women’s class 14 doubles and Perry & Williams combined to take bronze in the mixed class 14 doubles.
The tournament featured some of the best doubles teams in the world and in addition to the medallists the British Para table tennis team can take plenty of positives from the performance of developing partnerships over the next few months leading up to the World Championships in November.
Men’s class 14
In their first match Martin Perry & Billy Shilton edged a tight first set 13-11 and went on to beat Hwang Inchun & Park Hong Kyu from Republic of Korea 3-0. They twice came back to level against Sam Gustaffson & Jonas Hansson before taking the final set 11-7 to beat the world No 1 team from Sweden 3-2.
At 1-0, 10-6 up Perry & Shilton appeared to be in control against Ignacio Torres & Matias Pino but the Para Pan American champions from Chile came back to take the second set 12-10. Perry & Shilton took the third 11-9 and Torres & Pino took the fourth 11-6 to force a deciding set. The GB pair were 6-3 down but levelled at 9-9 and then saved four match points before clinching a tense final set 15-13.
That win ensured that they went through to the semi-finals as group winners and they beat Paulo Salmin & Paulo Fonseca, the Para Pan American bronze medallists from Brazil 3-0, taking the first two sets 11-5 11-5 before clinching their place in the final 12-10 in the third.
Perry & Shilton started brilliantly against Rungroj Thainiyom & Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri, outplaying the world and Paralympic silver medallists and Para Asian champions from Thailand to take the first set 11-6 and the second 11-9, the only moment of concern when Shilton took a heavy fall at 7-6 down. The GB pair led 8-5 in the third set but a run of six consecutive points for Thailand turned the tide, and they took the set 11-8 and the fourth 11-7 to level the match at 2-2.
Thainiyom & Wangphonphathanasiri raced into a 5-1 lead and appeared to have all the momentum and although Perry & Shilton kept fighting, at 10-7 down they faced three match points.
Showing great character and resilience, they saved them all to level at 10-10 before clinching the set 12-10 and the match 3-2.
“They are obviously a really good team,” said Shilton, “one of the best in the world. We were playing really good in the first two sets, up 2-0, 8-5 and our tactics were really good, and I think they started to change a few things in the match. At 10-7 down in the fifth we told ourselves to just trust the process and I’m obviously really happy to have won.”
“It’s been a fantastic tournament for us,” said Perry. “Earlier on in the competition we managed to beat Sweden who are ranked number one in the world – we’ve had some brilliant performances and we’re going from strength to strength.
“This was the fourth final in a row that we’ve made with two consecutive gold medals and this team of myself, Billy and coach Andrew (Rushton) we’re just getting stronger and stronger each tournament. We’re coming up against some really strong, tough opponents and we’re managing to get over the line so I couldn’t be happier.”
Will Bayley & Theo Bishop were drawn in a tough group, and they lost 3-0 to Paulo Salmin & Paulo Fonseca in their first match. They fought back well from 9-6 down in the first set against Rungroj Thainiyom & Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri to lead 10-9 but the pair from Thailand took the set 12-10 and went on to take the next two 11-6 11-9 to win 3-0.
Women’s class 14
Fliss Pickard & Grace Williams showed all their fighting spirit to come back from 2-0 down to beat Yang Bok Soon & Kim Seongok from Republic of Korea 11-6 in the deciding set. They had to dig deep again after Antonina Khodzynskaya & Maryna Lytovchenko from Ukraine twice came back to level and Pickard & Williams saved three match points before taking the final set 17-15 on their fourth match point to secure their place in the semi-finals as group winners.
They were 2-0 down to Lethicia Lacerda & Aline Meneses Ferreira and fought back well to take the third set but the Para Pan American bronze medallists who were silver medallists in last week’s Challenger tournament took the fourth to win 3-1.
“Obviously there were good parts, some positives and things we need to work on,” said Pickard, “but it’s a long time since we played together and I think to build on last week and to come and get a bronze medal is a positive and something we can take forward for the future. I think the whole two weeks has been one big battle especially in the doubles – we were 2-0 down in the first match and we dug deep and found a way and then to win 3-2 against a strong Ukrainian pair. It wasn’t to be today, but I thought we played well together and fought very hard.”
Mixed class 14
Martin Perry & Grace Williams lost the first set to Rungroj Thainiyom & Kanlaya Chaiwut-Kriabklang but won the next two 11-5 11-5 to lead 2-1. The Asian Championships bronze medallists and world No 3 team from Thailand took the fourth 11-6 to level the match before Perry & Williams took the deciding set 11-5 to win 3-2. They recovered from a slow start to beat Hwang Inchun & Yang Bok Soon from Republic of Korea 3-1 and as group winners they received a quarter-final bye through to the semi-finals.
They lost the first set to Paulo Salmin & Lethicia Lacerda 11-7 and from that point it was very close with the Para Pan American champions and world ranked No 2 team from Brazil just edging the second set 11-9 and the third 11-9 to win 3-0.
“They are tough opponents,” said Williams, “and the fact they are Para Pan American champions shows that the best of the best are at this tournament and to get a bronze is a good performance. We did have our chances, but it wasn’t our day today – we’re going to go back to the training hall and work together and get the gold next time.”
“I think one of the best things we’ve both got is our movement,” said Perry, “and we really need to utilise that. As Grace said, we gave ourselves a lot of opportunities to win more points than we did. I think if we can really dial in to our movement then we’ll open up more opportunities and hopefully get over the line next time.”
Billy Shilton & Fliss Pickard started well against Maksym Nikolenko & Maryna Lytovchenko, taking the first set 11-6 but the world No 6 team from Ukraine who took gold in last week’s Challenger event came back strongly to win 3-1. Shilton & Pickard led 8-4 in the first set against Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri & Kanokporn Phathumcai but the pair from Thailand came back to take it 11-9 and then took the second to lead 2-0. Shilton & Pickard raced through the third set 11-2 and then fought back from 8-5 down in the fourth to level at 8-8 and saved a match point before Wangphonphathanasiri & Phathumcai clinched the set 12-10 and the match 3-1.
Men’s class 18
Aaron McKibbin & Joshua Stacey were narrowly beaten in five sets by Lian Hao & Zhao Shuai in last week’s Challenger tournament and it was close again with McKibbin & Stacey losing the first set but taking the next two 11-7 11-3 to lead the Paralympic bronze medallists and Para Asian champions from China 2-1. Lian & Zhao came back to level at 2-2 and then took the deciding set 11-8 to win 3-2. McKibbin and Stacey lost 3-1 to Punpoo Chalermpong & Bunpot Sillapakong from Thailand last week but avenged that defeat with an emphatic 3-0 win to progress to the quarter-finals.
They took the first set against Liu Chaodong & Zhao Yi Qing 12-10, but the Chinese pair levelled at 1-1 and then edged a close third 12-10 before going on to win 3-1.
Men’s class 4
Tom Matthews & Chris Ryan were 7-0 down in the first set against Jan Riapos & Peter Lovas, the world No 1s and Paralympic champions from Slovakia but they fought back superbly to take the first set 15-13 and went on to take the second 11-7 to lead 2-0. They had match points at 10-9 and 11-10 in the third but Riapos & Lovas used all their experience to take the set 13-11 and having taken the fourth 11-7 to level at 2-2 they took the fourth 11-7 to win 3-2. Matthews & Ryan were 3-0 winners against Ljubisa Gajic & Gasper Mlakar from Slovenia but did not progress after a 3-0 loss to Kim Kyung Hyun & Park Jin Cheol from Republic of Korea.
Men’s class 8
Jack Hunter-Spivey & Neil Robinson were beaten 3-0 by Florian Merrien & Emeric Martin, the world No 2 team from France. They took the first set against Kim Young-Gun & Abdullah Ozturk 12-10, but the Korean/Turkish partnership came back to win 3-1.
