World champion Will Bayley and European champion Rob Davies head a squad of 12 British athletes that will compete in the ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines in France from September 12-16.

The tournament will provide valuable match practice as well as the opportunity to improve world ranking and seeding positions ahead of the ITTF World Para Championships in Thailand in November.

“The last few months have been geared around qualification for the World Championships,” said BPTT Interim Performance Director Shaun Marples, “and France will be a good opportunity for the athletes to gain some exposure at an Elite level for the final time before the team goes to the World Championships in November.  

“It will be really good for the athletes and coaches to work together and see how their plans for Thailand are shaping up. The team has had a great summer period, and we’ve just had a training camp in Sheffield with some very positive feedback.

“The period leading into a major championship is always exciting and I feel that everyone is in a solid position with their competition schedule and training programmes, so we’ve just got to look to maximise this in France.”

The full British squad for the ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines (September 12-16) is: Will Bayley (class 7), Rob Davies (class 1), Jack Hunter-Spivey (class 5), Lowri Hurd, (class 9), Paul Karabardak (class 6), Tom Matthews (class 1), Aaron McKibbin (class 8), Martin Perry (class 6), Fliss Pickard (class 6), Chris Ryan (class 2), Billy Shilton (class 8), Bly Twomey (class 7).