Will Bayley & Bly Twomey won their second consecutive gold medal in the class 14 mixed doubles on the final day of the ITTF World Para Elite Lasko tournament in Slovenia today.

There were also bronze medals for Jack Hunter-Spivey & Megan Shackleton (mixed class 10) and Martin Perry & Grace Williams (mixed class 14).

Photos by Michael Loveder

Mixed class 14

Will Bayley & Bly Twomey started with a 3-1 win against Katsuyoshi Yagi from Japan & Cajsa Stadler from Sweden. They dropped the first set against Ben Despineux from Belgium & Kelly Van Zon from Netherlands and then edged a tight second 12-10 before going on to complete a 3-1 win. Bayley & Twomey won their final group match against Tong Chi Yung & Chiu Kan Shan from Hong Kong 3-0 to finish top of group 3 and were 3-0 winners against Maksym Chudzicki & Katarzyna Marszal from Poland in the quarter-finals.

That took them through to the semi-finals where they played superbly to beat the European bronze medallists from France, Clement Berthier & Morgen Caillaud 3-0 and set up a rematch with Despineux & Van Zon in the final. They recovered from 6-3 down to take the first set 11-6 and took the second 11-9 to lead 2-0. Despineux & Van Zon pushed hard in the third and had a chance to take it at 10-9 but Bayley & Twomey came through 12-10 for a 3-0 win.

“We got momentum from the group stages,” said Bayley, “and we just got better and better. I knew we believed that we could win against Ben and Kelly and probably before the tournament they would have been favourites against us, but I believed we were going to win again in the final.

“Bly just played some great points when we needed her to. The first set was so big, and she played the best I’ve seen her play in those moments so I’m really proud of her for doing that. At her age it’s crazy to be playing in a final under pressure like that – I couldn’t have done it and it is amazing.

“I knew if we took that first set we’d find our rhythm and Bly just held it all together and I found my shots when I needed to. I got a forehand on at 10-9 down in the third – it was one of the best ones I’ve ever played so I’m pretty proud of that. I don’t normally get good shots on, I’m normally just a basic player that can get blocks on and I got a topspin on, so I was quite pleased with that.

“Every time I see Bly play she impresses me – not with her shots but with her mentality because she’s got courage to play the right ball at the right time, which is really important in table tennis, to have courage. She believes in herself – she went for flicks that most players her age wouldn’t do but she has the courage and the bravery to believe in those shots and that is why she is going to be such a great player because she’s got courage and determination.”

“It’s a privilege to play with Will and to get two gold medals,” said Twomey, who was beating her idol – three-time Paralympic champion and women’s class 7 world No 1 Van Zon. “We haven’t played since the Europeans two years ago when we lost to Berthier & Caillaud 3-0, so I think we have improved a lot as a doubles pair and to get two gold medals is such a relief and it’s amazing to see what the future holds for us.

“I think beating Kelly in doubles pushes me a lot as a player to figure out what her weaknesses are and try and play my game and hopefully I can beat her in the future in singles.

“I’m learning a lot from playing with Will because he has been my inspiration since I started so just having him by my side and being there for me when I need him most, it’s amazing to have him as a partner. Will and I are both determined to win, and both never give up and we always want the best from the match. My mum always says, even to Will, ‘have fun’ and that can be hard because he’s a bit intense and just wants to win but we have fun anyway.”

Martin Perry & Grace Williams led 2-1 against Maksym Chudzicki & Katarzyna Marszal from Poland and then edged a tight fourth set 15-13 to win 3-1. After taking a close first set 12-10 they led Jonas Hansson & Smilla Sand from Sweden 2-1 and recovered from 10-7 down in the fourth set to take it 12-10 and secure a 3-1 win and a bye through to the semi-finals as winners of group 1. They lost the first set to Ben Despineux & Kelly Van Zon 11-8 and then led 9-6 in the second but lost it 11-9 and went on to lose the match 3-0, 11-9 in the third.

“Ben and Kelly are a great team,” said Perry. “Kelly is obviously a fantastic player, and she’s got a lot of experience and knows how to close out matches. It was one of those games that we lost 3-0 but it was incredibly tight. The second set was the kicker – if we could have levelled at 1-1 then it might have been a different story because I felt that we were putting a lot of pressure on them.

“It’s just one of those things. We didn’t quite get over the line, but we played a lot of good stuff particularly in the group stages. We were seeded third in the group and managed to get two massive wins over two good teams seeded above us so I’m really happy with that. I think we are a good team – we both move quite well and the right-hand/left-hand combination is quite an advantage in doubles, so it is just how we take that advantage and win these matches. It would have been great to have an all-GB final but sadly it wasn’t to be.”

“There is a lot to be proud of,” said Williams. “Poland and Sweden are two of the top teams and obviously we were the third team in the group so we knew it would be difficult to get through but 3-1 in both matches was decent. We played some good stuff so I’m looking forward to training with Martin and seeing where we get to. I’ve won five medals overall from the two tournaments so I’m pretty proud and there is a lot of positive stuff to take back to the training hall.”

Billy Shilton & Fliss Pickard fought back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 against Peter Rosenmeier & Freja Larsen and again from 6-1 down in the deciding set to level at 9-9 but the Danish pair took it 12-10 and the match 3-2. Shilton & Pickard were 2-0 down to Clement Berthier & Morgen Caillaud and kept themselves in the match by taking the third 11-4 but the French pair secured a 3-1 win, 11-8 in the fourth. Shilton & Pickard finished on a high with a 3-0 win against Tong Chi Ming & Wong Yue Ching from Hong Kong but did not progress to the knockout stages.

Mixed class 10

Jack Hunter-Spivey & Megan Shackleton began with a 3-0 win against Christopher Addis & Lisa Di Toro from Australia and then lost in three close sets to Ali Ozturk & Irem Oluk from Turkey. They progressed to the quarterfinals after a 3-0 win against Nidal Faraj Abudalbouh & Khetam Abuawad from Jordan and then came through a tough five-set battle against Nemamja Curic & Sanja Bogunovic 11-7 in the fifth after the Serbian pair had twice come back to level.

They fought hard in the semi-final against Kim Young-Gun, the class 4 Paralympic champion and world mixed doubles champion from the Republic of Korea & Zorica Popadic, the former world team champion from Serbia and took a tight first set 14-12 but Kim & Popadic just had the edge in the next three sets and were 3-1 winners.

“I think we have had a bit of a battle over the last few weeks,” said Shackleton, “but we’ve got better as we’ve gone along which is a positive thing. There is always a bit more to do in training and hopefully by the European Championships at the end of the year we’ll be flying. We’re doing some promising stuff, and I think we’ve shown that we fight through the tough moments.  You can have a bit of bad luck here and there and that can sometimes swing matches, but I feel that we have finished on a solid kind of high and can be proud of it.”

“I think tactically they changed a little bit at the end of the first set,” said Hunter-Spivey. “Kim started to hit the forehand a bit more and we just went a little bit passive. Getting an international medal on any stage is a privilege and I think we’ve done well to battle through some rounds. It wasn’t our best level, but we’ve got things to work on for this season going forward and I’m looking forward to seeing where we can get in the future.”