European champion Bly Twomey followed up her win in last week’s ITTF World Para Future Nakhon Ratchasima by taking gold in the women’s class 7 singles at the ITTF World Para Elite Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand today.

The Brighton-based teenager (pictured above) defeated both the current world No 1 and the reigning world champion to lay down a marker ahead of the World Championships later this year.

Against strong competition, there were also bronze medals for Rob Davies (men’s class 1), Paul Karabardak (men’s class 6), Joshua Stacey (men’s class 9) and Grace Williams (women’s class 8).

Women’s class 7

Bly Twomey lost 3-1 to world No 3 Kubra Korkut, the world champion and Paris 2024 Paralympic silver medallist from Turkey in her opening group match but secured her place in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win against Wong Yue Ching, the world No 4 and Para Asian champion from Hong Kong, China.

After taking the first set 11-2 against Galina Gorokhovatcenko she edged the second 12-10 and the third 16-14 to beat the Russian 3-0 and then produced a great performance to beat world No 1 Lethicia Lacerda, the Para Pan American champion from Brazil 3-0.

That took her through to the final and another match against Kubra Korkut. She started well, taking the first two sets 11-5, 11-5 and although Korkut took the third 11-8, Twomey clinched the match 3-1, 12-10 in the fourth.

“I think overall I played well,” said Twomey, who is managing an ongoing issue with her foot. “At the start I had a couple of matches where I was struggling with my foot, but I tried my hardest to fight through the pain. Last time I played Lacerda I got thrashed 3-0 but this time I was more patient and placed the ball well. I had a chat with my coach Matjaz (Sercer) before the match, and we went through the main tactics and that helped me a lot.

“Kubra played an extremely good match in the group and was difficult to get past and win but I believe that I was more up for the final as I wanted that gold medal. She is a very experienced player and I’m so happy to have got the win in the final.

“It has been a very tough couple of months for me, and I knew that every match in the Elite tournament was going to be tough, but these tournaments were just to get me back on the table and have fun. Any wins were a bonus, so I am really excited to see how the next tournaments go and this puts me in a better mindset and place for the World Championships later this year.”

Men’s class 1

Rob Davies was a 3-0 winner against Mayank Srivastava from India and secured his place in the quarter-finals as group winner with a 3-1 win against world No 6 Jeong Sang Gu, the Para Asian Championships silver medallist from the Republic of Korea.

A 3-0 win against the Russian former two-time European bronze medallist Dmitri Lavrov took him through to the semi-finals where he lost 3-0 to world No 1 Kim Hyeon Uk, the 2018 world champion and Tokyo 2021 Paralympic silver medallist from the Republic of Korea.

“I’m quite happy with the way I’ve played here,” said Davies. “I played really well in the groups and the quarter-final, and I just felt like I could do what I wanted with the ball. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to warm up before my semi-final – it was always going to be difficult against Kim whether you’ve had a warm-up or not so going in cold didn’t really help.

“I’m really excited for the World Championships now – to beat Jeong was a really good achievement for me and to beat Lavrov the way I did. I’ve got things to work on and Nathan Thomas down in Wales has been doing an awesome job for me and I can’t wait to get back to training with him.

“My next competition is provisionally Spain in October, so I’ve got a good block before that to sharpen up my game and get better in a few bits but I’m in a good place. It’s been good to see Thailand and good preparation before the Worlds in November.”

Tom Matthews lost the first two sets to Kim Hyeon Uk 11-9, 11-7 and although he kept himself in the match by taking the third set the Korean took the fourth to win 3-1. Matthews progressed to the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Jehan Dorab Madan, the Para Asian Championships bronze medallist from India and twice came back to level in his quarter-final against world No 2 Joo Young Dae but the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic champion took the deciding set 11-6 to win 3-2. 

Men’s class 6

Paul Karabardak started well against world No 5 Rungroj Thainiyom, taking the first set 11-6 before the London 2012 Paralympic champion and Paris 2024 silver medallist from Thailand came back to take the next three close sets to win 3-1. Karabardak secured his place in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win against the Australian 2023 Oceania Para Championships bronze medallist Lennard Properjohn and then fought back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 against the Korean Lee Se Ho before taking the deciding set 11-6 to beat the world No 6 and Asian Championships bronze medallist 3-2.

Karabardak last played his semi-final opponent Chen Chao in 2011 and the two-time Paralympic team gold medallist from China just had the edge today, winning in three close sets.

“I’m really pleased with winning bronze in a tough competition,” said Karabardak. “It’s been a difficult year suffering with glandular fever so coming here to Thailand and coming away with a medal and some good wins, especially against Lee who I’d never beaten before, I’m really happy. In the semi-final I never really imposed my game and found it really difficult against Chen who played very well. On the whole I’m happy with my recovery and developing my relationship with Steve (Jenkins) as a coach.”

Martin Perry was a 3-1 winner against Yaser Hussaini, the Oceania Para Championships bronze medallist from Australia and after leading 2-0 against Piotr Manturz he lost out in five sets to the 21-year-old world No 11 from Poland, who was silver medallist in Czechia and Italy this year. Perry fought back from 2-0 down against Huang Jiaxin to beat the 2023 Asian Para Games silver medallist from China 11-7 in the deciding set and progress to the quarter-finals where he lost 3-0 to world No 8 Matias Pino, the Para Pan American silver medallist from Chile.

Men’s class 9

Joshua Stacey lost the first set against Zhao Yi Qing but fought back to beat the two-time Asian Para Games gold medallist from China 3-1. He secured top position in his group with a 3-0 win against last year’s silver medallist Ho Ka Sing from Hong Kong, China and then came through a tough five-set battle against the in-form Koyo Iwabuchi. Stacey raced through the first set 11-1 but lost a tight second 14-12 before edging the third 13-11. The world No 3 and former World bronze medallist from Japan levelled at 2-2 but Stacey took the deciding set 11-7 to progress to the semi-finals where he never really got into the match and lost 3-0 to Ma Lin, the Chinese-born former World and Paralympic champion who now represents Australia.

“I haven’t been particularly happy with my level at this tournament,” said Stacey, “but it was good to get through a tough match against Iwabuchi. Against Ma Lin, I think he played really well and I didn’t play well enough to really give him many problems in the match.”

Women’s class 8

Grace Williams began with a 3-1 win against Olaia Martinez, the European bronze medallist from Spain and then came through a great battle against Yuri Tomono 3-2, taking the deciding set 13-11 after the world No 3 and Para Asian Championships silver medallist from Japan had levelled at 2-2.

Williams lost her final group match to 16-year-old Freja Larsen from Denmark, gold medallist in the ITTF World Para Future Ostrava but progressed to the quarter-finals where she took the deciding set 11-9 to beat Ren Guixiang 3-2 after the 44-year-old from China had twice come back to level.

Williams started well in her semi-final against world No 2 Huang Wenjuan and was just edged out 14-12 in the first set by the Paralympic champion from China who went on to win 3-0.

 “The season has not been great for me,” said Williams, “going out in the group stages and only getting to one quarter-final so it just makes this medal a bit more special, and it shows that I can do it. I had some tough matches and I’m glad I got over the line with Tomono and Ren.

“I played really well and there is a lot I can take from all my matches back into the training hall for preparation for the World Championships which I’m really pleased about. I had chances in the first set against Huang, and I just forced a lot of balls and didn’t really execute it properly but there is a lot to work on, and I’m really pleased with my performance.”

Men’s class 2

After losing his last two matches against world No 1 Park Jin Cheol in five sets Chris Ryan once again pushed the Asian champion from the Republic of Korea all the way, taking the first set and levelling at 2-2 before losing the deciding set 11-6. Ryan achieved his first win against Jan Riapos in Beijing last month but at 1-1 the former two-time Paralympic champion from Slovakia used all his experience to edge a tight third set 13-11 to lead 2-1 and then took the deciding set 11-9 after Ryan had levelled at 2-2.

Men’s class 4-5

Jack Hunter-Spivey lost his first match to Kazuki Shichino, the class 4 world No 2 and Asian Championships silver medallist from Japan 3-0 but progressed to the knockout stages with a 3-1 win against Park Jae Hyeon, the class 5 world No 13 from the Republic of Korea. He led Yayang Gunaya 2-1 in their round of 16 match but the Asian Championships bronze medallist from Indonesia levelled at 2-2 and took the deciding set 11-9 to win 3-2.

Men’s class 7

Will Bayley lost in five sets to world No 14 Hwang Inchun when they last met in Slovenia in May and he edged a tight first set 13-11 before the Korean levelled at 1-1. Bayley took the third set 11-5 and secured a 3-1 win, 12-10 in the fourth. He led 2-0 against world No 10 Bjoern Schnake but the former European bronze medallist from Germany took a tight third set 14-12 and levelled at 2-2 before Bayley took the fifth set 11-6 to win 3-2.

That win secured his place in the quarter-finals as group winner and after losing a close first set 13-11 he found himself 2-0 down to former world bronze medallist Sayed Youssef. Bayley edged a tight third set 13-11 and then levelled at 2-2 but the nine-times African champion from Egypt took the deciding set 11-5 to win 3-2 before going on to take the gold.

Men’s class 8

Aaron McKibbin recovered from losing the first set to Mulyo Banyu Tri to beat last year’s bronze medallist from Indonesia 3-1 and then had to come back from 2-1 down against world No 8 Wong Hon Lam, taking the fourth set 11-7 and the deciding set 12-10 to beat the Asian Para Championships silver medallist from Hong Kong, China 3-2. As group winner McKibbin received a bye into the quarter-finals where he lost 3-0 to Peng Weinan, the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic bronze medallist from China.

Billy Shilton lost a tough opening match against world No 2 Zhao Shuai, the former three-time Paralympic champion from China 3-0 but secured his place in the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Nathan Pellissier, the Oceania Para champion from Australia. Shilton went out in the round of 16 after a 3-1 loss to Wong Hon Lam.

Women’s class 6

Fliss Pickard lost her opening match against world No 9 Morgen Caillaud, the European doubles champion from France 3-0 but showed all her fighting qualities to beat Katarzyna Marszal, the world and European silver medallist from Poland 3-2, taking the deciding set 11-9 after Marszal had twice come back to level. Pickard progressed to the quarter-finals where she lost 3-0 to the Russian world No 5 Gulmira Gonobina.

Women’s class 9

Lowri Hurd lost 3-0 against Russian world No 9 Olga Gorshkaleva, the former European champion competing here as an individual neutral athlete and then received a walkover against world No 10 Baby Sahana Ravi from India. She did not progress after losing in three close sets to world No 5 Mao Jingdian, the three-time Paralympic champion from China.

The tournament continues with the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles events that conclude on Wednesday.