The Great Britain squad has been sharpening up for the ITTF World Para Championships in Thailand later this month – and have been boosted by some good news.

The ITTF has announced that the Championships, which have been held every four years, will move to a two-year cycle from 2029. The initial three-year gap is to ensure they are not in the same year as the Paralympics.

Making the announcement, the ITTF said: “This is particularly important in Para table tennis, where competitive trajectories can be shaped by a range of sporting, personal and disability-related factors. More frequent Championships help reduce the impact of a missed opportunity and offer greater continuity throughout an athlete’s career.”

We asked some of the squad for their reaction – and found that we were actually breaking the news to some of them!

Jack Hunter-Spivey typified the positive mood when he said: “Getting to prepare for big tournaments all the time is amazing, and we’re moving the sport forward as much as we can.”

Martin Perry added: “It’s definitely piqued my interest because you want to be competing at the biggest stage, and outside the Paralympics it is the World Championships – but that’s still every four years as well, so it’s a long period in between. So it’s going to be exciting.”

Check out the video below for more from the athletes.