Teenager Lowri Hurd consolidated her recent selection for the British Para Table Tennis Team’s Performance squad by taking gold in the women’s class 9 singles and European champion Rob Davies followed up his gold medal in France last month by taking gold in the men’s class 1 singles at the ITTF World Para Future Region de Murcia in Spain today.

Jack Hunter-Spivey (men’s class 4-5), Paul Karabardak (men’s class 6) and Pathway athlete Max Flint (men’s class 10) all took bronze in their respective events.

Women’s class 9

Lowri Hurd edged a tight first set 13-11 against Mirjana Lucic and had set points in the third but could not convert them as the world No 7 from Croatia took it 16-14 to lead 2-1. Hurd fought back to take the fourth 11-7 before taking the deciding set 12-10 on her fourth match point.

She edged another tight first set against Victoria Sorribes Barba 12-10 and the Spaniard took the second 12-10 to level at 1-1. Hurd raced through the third 11-3 and clinched a 3-1 win, 12-10 in the fourth.

The 18-year-old secured the gold medal with a 3-0 win in her final round-robin match against another Spaniard Maria Migueles, silver medallist in the World Para Future Ostrava in July. 

“I’m really pleased to win gold,” said Hurd, who narrowly missed out on qualification for the World Championships in her first season competing in Para events. “I came into this tournament quite confident and the first match against Lucic was tight, but I managed to take my chances which I am really pleased about.

“With my second match I was physically tired and unwell, but I managed to win 3-1 and with my last match I was feeling confident that I had a game plan. I spoke with Ross (BPTT coach Ross Wilson) last night and the tactics and game plan we discussed worked and were executed well which I’m really pleased with.

“Overall, I’m really happy with my performance. I have struggled mentally in the last few tournaments but my main goal here was to keep calm and use good body language and I did that well, so I am proud of myself for winning gold and having a good mentality. Hopefully going into winter training, I can keep working hard because the first few weeks of training I have had since moving to Sheffield have clearly helped my game a lot and are helping me become a better all-round player.

“I’m super-pleased to win gold and now it’s back to the training hall to prepare for the tournaments in the new year.”

Men’s class 1

Rob Davies began with a comfortable 3-0 win against Antreas Aravis from Cyprus and then recovered from dropping the second set to beat the American Michael Godfrey 3-1 and secure his place in the semi-finals as group winner. The Welshman had to fight hard against Alan Papirer, twice coming back to level against the world No 12 from France before taking the deciding set 11-7 to win 3-2. 

Davies had not lost a set in four previous meetings with Adam Urlauber and after coming back from 7-3 down to take the first set 11-9 he went on to beat the world No 13 from Hungary 3-0 to take the gold.

“A good tournament overall,” said Davies. “Tough match against Papirer – a lot tougher than I was hoping for and I had to really dig deep. He was on fire to be fair to him and played really well. I’ve struggled a bit out here just to get the feeling for the tables and the hall, but I had enough just to work hard and fight for every point. It was hard work, but I managed to come out with the result which is the main thing.

“In the final I played relatively well. I felt a bit more relaxed – I was quite on edge in the semi-final – and Urlauber made a lot of unforced errors which eased the pressure on me a bit. Generally, I played a lot better and felt more in control mentally.

“Looking forward to the Worlds now – two gold medals going into it definitely gives you a bit of confidence and I’ll try and use that. We’ve got another three or four weeks’ training before we head out there so I’m looking forward to putting the grind in and hopefully I’ll be in good shape when I get out to Thailand.”

Nathan Drayner started well against Alan Papirer taking the first set 11-6 before the experienced Frenchman came back to win 3-1. Drayner did not progress from his group after a 3-0 loss to Adam Urlauber.

Men’s class 4-5

Jack Hunter-Spivey was a 3-0 winner against Petru Ifrosa from Romania and then beat Sem Roelofs from the Netherlands 3-1 before securing his place in the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win against Kim Hyungtae from the Republic of Korea. After racing through the first set against 21-year-old Maycon Antonio De Oliveira 11-2 Hunter-Spivey came back from 10-7 down to take the second set 12-10 and had match points at 10-9 and 12-11 in the third set but the world No 9 and Para Pan American champion from Brazil saved them before taking the set 14-12. To his credit Hunter-Spivey put that disappointment behind him to complete a 3-1 win, 11-4 in the fourth set to set up a semi-final against the European champion Filip Nachazel. He made a great start, taking the first set 11-5 but the world No 8 from Czechia levelled at 1-1 and went on to win 3-1.

Jacob Wicks lost his opening match to Filip Nachazel 3-0 but progressed to the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Sebastian Chaves Quiros from Costa Rica. The 21-year-old Welshman, competing in only his second tournament in class 4-5 was far from disgraced in a 3-0 quarter-final loss to world No 9 Boris Travnicek, fighting back from 10-3 down in the second set before losing it 11-8 and pushing the European bronze medallist all the way in the third set which the Slovakian won 11-9.

Thomas Hepburn lost 3-0 to Boris Travnicek and did not progress after a 3-0 loss to Henrik Andersson from Austria.

Men’s class 6

After edging a close first set 15-13, Paul Karabardak lost the second set to Leon Schuep from Switzerland 11-8 but came back strongly to win 3-1 and progressed to the knockout stages after a 3-0 win against Alejandro Lozano Gil from Spain.

As No 1 seed and group winner he received a bye into the semi-finals where he faced the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Ian Seidenfeld from the USA. After losing the first set 11-9 Karabardak took the second 12-10 and having lost the third 11-9 he came back to level again, taking the fourth 11-9 before the three-time Para Pan American champion finally secured a 3-2 win, 11-7 in the deciding set.

“I played quite well overall,” said Karabardak. “I felt that I played my best against Ian but he had a little edge on me with his serves and the way that he can spin and move the ball which I feel edged it for him in the end but he’s one of the best in the world so I can’t really complain. I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t have met him in the final and got a better colour medal but overall, I’m pleased with my performance.”

Dan Thomson was a 3-0 winner against Anthony Fernandes Casanueva from Spain and was then beaten 3-0 by Ian Seidenfeld. Having recovered from a slow start to take the first set against Maximilian Raidel 12-10 Thomson saved set points in the second before taking it 12-10 and completed a 3-0 win over the Austrian, 11-9 in the third. That sent him through to the knockout stages and he lost his quarter-final to Leon Schuep in three close sets.

Men’s class 10

Max Flint fought back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 against world No 16 Claudio Massad before taking the deciding set 11-6 to beat the former two-time Para Pan American champion from Brazil 3-2. Flint secured his place in the quarter-finals as group winner with a 3-0 win against Nico Quevedo Benito from Spain and progressed to the semi-finals with a 3-0 win against 17-year-old Bilal Ekin from Turkey.

After losing the first two sets to world No 5 Marlon Lopez he fought back superbly to take the third set 11-9 and saved a match point in the fourth before the Spaniard, gold medallist in Chile and Brazil this season clinched a 3-1 win, 11-9.

“I was happy with the overall level I brought to this tournament,” said Flint. “I was proud of the resilience I showed coming back from 2-0 down against Massad and also in the semi-finals after going 2-0 down pretty comfortably and managing to make it close. Lots to take back and work on in training over the winter and try to figure out how to adapt to players’ games more quickly so I don’t start the match 2-0 down.”

Men’s class 7

Theo Bishop was a 3-1 winner against Francisco Gonzalez Garzon from Spain and then came through a five-set battle against Joao Pedro Martins Narvais. He led 2-0 and had match points in the third set but the Brazilian saved them before taking the set 13-11 and then took the fourth 11-9 to level at 2-2 before Bishop secured a 3-2 win, 11-5 in the deciding set.

A 3-0 win against Jakub Racko from Slovakia sent him through to the knockout stages as group winner and a quarter-final against the very experienced Ben Despineux, the former two-time European team gold medallist. The Belgian edged the first set 12-10 and the second 11-9 before completing a 3-0 win.

Bailey Page was beaten 3-1 by Christian Cognetta from Italy and then lost 3-1 to Ben Despineux. The 19-year-old from Plymouth finished with a 3-1 win against Santiago Francisco Pereira Monteiro from Portugal but did not progress from his group.

Men’s class 8

Ryan Henry was a 3-0 winner against Eurico Silva from Portugal and then lost the deciding set to Ricard Sabio Ruiz 11-8 after the Spaniard had twice come back to level. Henry secured his place in the knockout stages with a 3-1 win against Enrique Preza from Mexico and twice came back to level in his quarter-final against world No 20 Alejandro Diaz, the 2023 European doubles bronze medallist from Spain but lost the deciding set 11-7.

Women’s class 2-3

Bethany Kelf had a tough first match against the very experienced Michela Brunelli and the world doubles champion and four-time European class 3 singles medallist from Italy was a 3-0 winner. Kelf did not progress after a 3-0 loss to Fiorella Padilla from Costa Rica.