Gold for Billy Shilton in men’s class 8 and bronze for Fliss Pickard in women’s class 6 were the highlights for the British team in the singles events at the ITTF World Para Challenger Wladyslawowo in Poland.
In the team’s first tournament of the year there were some promising performances with plenty to build on for future competitions.
Men’s Class 8
Billy Shilton (pictured above) started the tournament with a bang, defeating Poland’s Kamil Kowalski and Brazil’s Jean Carlos de Souza Mashki 3-0 to top his group and progress to the round of 16, where he faced last year’s bronze medallist, Maksym Chudzicki from Poland.
Shilton found himself 2-1 down but fought back to win 3-2 and earn himself a place in the quarter-finals where he faced reigning European champion Clement Berthier from France. Berthier defeated Shilton 3-1 at the ITTF European Championships last November, but Shilton started this match powerfully, taking the first set 11-1 and he maintained his performance to take the match 3-0 in a convincing manner.
A 3-0 win in the semi-final against Poland’s Marcin Zielinski took him through to the final where he faced Ukraine’s world No 4 Maksym Nikolenko. The first set was closely contested, with Shilton edging it 12-10 and he went on to take the match 3-0 and win the gold.
“It feels really good to win the first tournament of the year,” said Shilton. “I feel like I always play well here and I was really happy with the level I played. I’ve been working a lot since the Europeans with all the coaches in Sheffield, which led to what I feel is the best match I’ve played so far in my career.
“David (coach David McBeath) and I had a lot of conversations about how to adapt my game and I’ve been doing a lot of work with Matjaž (coach Matjaž Šercer) and Andrew (head coach Andrew Rushton) and it’s just really nice to see that in those pressure moments, when the pressure is on, I can do those things that I’ve been practising well.”
Ryan Henry faced Maksym Nikolenko in his first group match and although he displayed good quality the experience and skill of the Ukrainian showed as he took the match 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-7). Henry then faced Asian Championships silver medalist Wong Hon Lam from Hong Kong, where he again played well but was beaten 3-0, meaning he did not progress to the knockout rounds.
Women’s Class 6
Fliss Pickard started the tournament with a convincing 3-0 win over Antonina Khodzynskaya from Ukraine before facing European Para Youth Games champion Barbara Jablonka from Poland. Pickard took the first set 11-8 and went on to take the match 3-1 after Jablonka had taken the second set 11-6 to level the match.
Pickard received a bye into the semi-finals where she faced Asian Championships bronze medalist Pang Wing Ka from Hong Kong. Pang took the first set 11-6, with Pickard coming back to level at 1-1 but Pang edged the next two sets 11-9 11-8 to take the match.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed with the result,” said Pickard, “but I can take a lot of positives away from this tournament. I’ve had a good start to the year and I’m really excited to get playing again next week at the ITTF World Para Challenger in Italy – another opportunity to play the top girls. I’ve definitely seen improvements in my approach, and there is a lot to take forward for the future.”
Men’s Class 2
Chris Ryan started well in his first match against two-time Paralympic and three-time world champion Fabien Lamirault of France, taking the first two sets 11-5 and 11-7 but Lamirault’s experience showed as he fought back to win 3-2.
Placing second in his group after beating Poland’s Tomasz Jakimczuk 3-0, Ryan faced three-time Pan American silver medalist Guilherme Marcio da Costa in the quarter-final. Starting strongly again, Ryan took the first set 11-9 but the Brazilian twice came back to level and took the deciding set 11-9 to win 3-2.
Men’s Class 6
Martin Perry started his tournament strongly, winning his group with victories over Aaro Toivo Samuli Makela of Finland and Piotr Manturz from Poland. Perry then faced Greece’s Georgios Mouchthis in the quarter-finals and although he fought back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 Mouchthis edged the deciding set 12-10 and the match 3-2.
“I’m really happy with how I played in the group stages,” said Perry. “Manturz beat me the last time that we played and the fact that I felt comfortable and managed to beat him was really good. It’s sore to lose 12-10 in the fifth and that was tough to take.
“I felt confident going into the quarter-final and managed to get myself in a position to win, going 10-9 up in the final set. Throughout the match, I felt like I was being really brave and played some big points, especially in the final set. It was close and all credit to Georgios, he executed his tactics very well and got the better of me today.”
Men’s Class 10
Shae Thakker started strongly against Marlon Lopez, taking the first set 13-11, but the world No 12 from Spain fought back to take the match 3-1. Thakker produced a brilliant performance to beat the 2024 Polish Open champion Pawel Wlodyka 3-2, securing the match 11-6 in the fifth set but ultimately placed third in his group after a 3-0 loss to two-time Paralympic bronze medalist Filip Radovic from Montenegro, meaning he did not progress to the knockout stages.
Women’s Class 8
Grace Williams faced reigning European champion Juliane Wolf for her opening match. The first set was edged 11-9 by the German as Williams continued to show her strong attacking abilities. Williams continued to fight hard but Wolf took the match 3-0. Williams did not progress after a 3-0 defeat to Italy’s Elena Elli, who took the match 12-10 in the third set.