World champion Will Bayley defeated the Chinese two-time Paralympic champion on his way to taking gold in the men’s class 7 singles at the ITTF World Para Elite Beijing in China today.
In a strong tournament that featured the best players in the world, Chris Ryan (men’s class 2), Martin Perry (men’s class 6), Aaron McKibbin (men’s class 8), Billy Shilton (men’s class 8) and Joshua Stacey (men’s class 9) all took bronze in their respective events.
Men’s class 7
Will Bayley led Liao Keli 2-0 and took the deciding set 11-4 after the Tokyo Paralympic bronze medallist and former three-time Asian champion from China had come back to level at 2-2. Bayley secured his place in the quarter-finals as group winner with a 3-1 win against Bjoern Schnake, the world No 9 and former European bronze medallist from Germany and then came through a tough battle against world No 4 Krizander Magnussen, taking the deciding set 11-8 after the European Paralympic Youth Games champion from Norway, who beat Bayley in the final of the ITTF World Para Challenger Lasko in Slovenia last month, had fought back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2.
Bayley achieved his first win against the two-time Paralympic champion Yan Shuo in Slovenia last month and he produced another great performance to beat the former world No 1 from China again in the semi-final 3-1 and set up a final against the current world No 2 Paulo Fonseca.
Bayley won their only previous meeting in Slovenia last year 3-0 and he was always in control of their match today, beating the Para Pan American champion from Brazil 3-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-4) to take the gold.
“I think this was maybe my best ever performance,” said Bayley. “I wanted to test myself against the very best players – Paralympic champions and the top-ranked players in the world – and this was the hardest competition of the year with Yan, Liao, Kim and Magnussen all there, so I’m really pleased.”
Theo Bishop led Krizander Magnussen 2-1 before the Norwegian edged a tight fourth set 14-12 to level at 2-2 and went on to take the deciding set 11-9. Bishop was a 3-1 winner against Wang Yu from China and lost out in another five-set battle to Jean Paul Montanus, leading 2-1 before the Paralympic bronze medallist and former two-time European champion from Netherlands came back to level at 2-2 and then took the deciding set 11-8.
Men’s class 2
Chris Ryan lost in five sets to Park Jin Cheol in Slovenia last month and came agonisingly close again to beating the world No 1 here. He led 2-1 but the Asian champion from the Republic of Korea took the fourth 11-9 to level at 2-2 before edging the deciding set 12-10 to win 3-2.
Ryan also lost in five sets to the hugely experienced Jan Riapos in Slovenia having had match points and he demonstrated his huge potential in beating the former two-time Paralympic champion and six-time European champion from Slovakia 3-1.
That sent him through to the round of 16 and he clinched a 3-2 win against the Russian Dmitrii Chubarov 11-6 in the deciding set after the world No 9 had edged a tight fourth set 12-10 to level at 2-2. Ryan memorably beat the Polish Paralympic champion Rafal Czuper when they last met at the European Championships last November and he came out on top again in their quarter-final, edging a close first set 15-13 and going on to clinch a 3-1 win, 13-11 in the fourth.
He twice came back to level in his semi-final against world No 2 Fabien Lamirault before the three-time world champion and two-time former Paralympic champion from France took the deciding set 11-8 to win 3-2.
“I don’t think satisfied is the word, but I would have to say I’m proud of the way I’ve played this week,” said Ryan. “I had a great start against Park, but a crucial decision went against me late in the fifth, then to beat Riapos was huge for me. He’s kind of been my nemesis on the circuit and to have worked out a way to beat him on the day is something I’m really pleased with given his skill and experience.
“Very happy to have won a difficult last 16 match and then go on to beat Czuper – it was important to prove to myself that beating him at the Euros wasn’t a fluke. Unfortunately, Lamirault proved a step too far. It was a great match that I can take a lot of positives from, but I just got off to a slow start in the fifth.
“I have to be pleased with this week so far and I’ll focus now on the doubles and the upcoming tournament in Thailand.”
Men’s class 6
Martin Perry lost in three close sets to Matteo Parenzan, the reigning world, Paralympic and European champion from Italy but secured his place in the knockout stages with a 3-1 win against Huang Jiaxin, the former Asian Para Games silver medallist from China.
Perry faced Bobi Simion in the quarter-final and after losing a tight first set 18-16 he took the next three sets 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 to beat the world No 2 from Romania 3-1.
He faced world No 5 Rungroj Thainiyom in the semi-final and the London 2012 Paralympic champion and Paris 2024 silver medallist from Thailand was at his best in a 3-0 win.
“I was really happy with the win against Bobi in the quarter-final,” said Perry, “especially after our match in Montenegro a few weeks ago. He was way better than me on that day so although I know I can beat him as I’ve done it a few times it is never an easy match. I felt I could have won it 3-0 after losing the first set 18-16 but I was super happy with the win.
“Thainiyom played really well in the semi-final – I felt the second set was a bit nip and tuck and if I had won that it might have changed the game, but he didn’t really allow me to play the way I wanted to play, so I’ve got to give him credit there.
“I’m over the moon with my first singles medal at an Elite tournament – I’ve been in a lot of quarter-finals these last few months so I’m really happy to get over the line with that one.”
Paul Karabardak started well against Bobi Simion, taking the first set 11-8 but the Romanian, gold medallist in Montenegro and Taipei this year took the second 11-9 to level at 1-1 and went on to win 3-1. Karabardak fought back from 2-0 down against Benedikt Muller to take the third set 12-10 but the European Paralympic Youth Games champion from Germany took the fourth set to win 3-1.
Men’s class 8
Aaron McKibbin came through a great battle against Maksym Chudzicki 14-12 in the deciding set after the former European bronze medallist from Poland had twice come back to level. McKibbin secured top position in his group with a 3-0 win against Marc Ledoux, the former world No 1 and Paralympic silver medallist from Belgium and received a bye into the quarter-finals.
After taking the first two sets against Borna Zohil 11-4 11-5, he looked to be in control but the 19-year-old world No10 from Croatia fought back to level at 2-2 before McKibbin clinched a 3-2 win, 11-5 in the fifth.
He faced Zhao Shuai in the semi-final and having taken the second set 11-8 to level at 1-1 he led 10-7 in the third before the three-time former Paralympic champion from China edged it 12-10 and went on to win 3-1.
“I was really happy to come through against Chudzicki,” said McKibbin. “I don’t think I played my best level against him but he’s someone I find quite tricky to play against, so I was really happy that I was still good enough to win.
“Against Zhao overall, I was quite happy. I didn’t play well in the first and fourth sets but in the second and third I played really well – at 1-1, 10-7 I had good chances to go 2-1 up but I proved to myself that I’m getting closer to him which is really important for the World Championships. He is going to be someone I’m competing with to win the tournament and my performance against him from Lasko (last month) definitely went up so overall it’s been a positive singles tournament for me.
“I’m just glad that I’m finally feeling fit – after a year of injury this is the first competition where I’ve played at almost 100% which has been really nice.”
Billy Shilton lost his first match 3-0 to Zhao Shuai but progressed to the knockout stages with a 3-0 win against Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri, the Paralympic bronze medallist from Thailand. He also received a bye into the quarter-finals and after edging a marathon third set 18-16 to lead the Spaniard Alejandro Diaz 2-1, Shilton went on to take the fourth set 11-9 to win 3-1.
He led 2-1 in his semi-final against Peng Weinan but the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic bronze medallist from China levelled at 2-2 and took the deciding set 11-3 to win 3-2.
“I’m happy with how the tournament went,” said Shilton. “I’ve felt pretty low on confidence after a few tough tournaments, so I’ve been working really hard to get that back in the training hall and I felt great here.
“The semi-final was a very close match. Peng is a very good player and the changes he made after I went 2-1 up worked really well and I struggled to keep him out. I felt the match could have gone either way to be honest, but I’m pleased with the bronze and now all focus is on the doubles.”
Men’s class 9
Joshua Stacey was a 3-0 winner against Takumi Tsujimura from Japan and then fought back from 2-1 down to beat Lucas Didier, the Paralympic silver medallist and World bronze medallist from France 3-2, 11-3 in the fifth. A 3-0 win against Yun Kwang Song from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea took him through to the knockout stages as group winner and he was impressive in beating Juan Bautista Perez, the former World and European medallist from Spain 3-0 in the quarter-finals.
After dropping the first set in his semi-final against world No 1 Ander Cepas, Stacey levelled at 1-1 and took a tight third set 13-11 to lead 2-1. He had chances to take the fourth but the European silver medallist and Paralympic bronze medallist from Spain edged it 12-10 and went on to take the deciding set 11-3 to win 3-2.
“The singles overall hasn’t been too bad,” said Stacey. “I’m just really annoyed with myself as I had chances in the fourth set against Cepas but I couldn’t close it out and I was pretty poor in the fifth set. It was good to get through against Didier, but I think that match could have been a lot simpler if I’d played a little bit smarter. Looking forward to doubles now and Thailand in a few weeks.”
Men’s class 1
Tom Matthews started well against the in-form world No 2 Kim Hyeon Uk, taking the first set 11-8 before the 2018 World champion from the Republic of Korea took the next two sets 11-9, 11-9 and completed a 3-1 win, 11-6 in the fourth. Matthews lost his second match to Ardak Nurmagambetov from Kazakhstan 3-1 but then showed all his character and resilience to fight back from 2-0 down against world No 5 Federico Falco to beat the European silver medallist and Paralympic bronze medallist from Italy 3-2, 12-10 in the deciding set. The Welshman was unlucky to miss out on a place in the semi-finals on countback.
Men’s class 4-5
Jack Hunter-Spivey lost his opening match to world No 3 Tommy Urhaug, the reigning Paralympic champion and European silver medallist from Norway 3-1. He fought back from 2-1 down against Krszysztof Zylka to edge the fourth set 14-12 and level at 2-2 but the class 4 world No 9 and former European bronze medallist from Poland took the deciding set 11-6 to win 3-2.
Women’s class 6
Fliss Pickard lost her opening match to 16-year-old Fan Yiwen from China 3-0 and then lost out in a five-set battle with Barbara Jablonka. After losing a tight first set 12-10, Pickard edged the second 14-12 to level and then led 2-1 but the world No 6 from Poland, gold medallist in the World Para Challenger Sao Paulo, levelled at 2-2 and took the deciding set 11-6.
Women’s class 8
Grace Williams led the Russian Elena Litvinenko 2-0, but the world No 5 and former two-time European bronze medallist levelled at 2-2 and edged the deciding set 14-12 to win 3-2. Williams kept herself in contention with a 3-0 win against Balziya Tash from Kazakhstan but did not progress after a 3-0 loss to Frederique Van Hoof, the world and European bronze medallist from the Netherlands.
Women’s class 9
Lowri Hurd was drawn in a tough group, and she started well against world No 5 Kim Kun-Hea, taking the first set 11-6. After losing a tight second set 15-13 she took the third 11-9 to lead 2-1 but the 2018 World champion from Republic of Korea levelled at 2-2 and went on to win 3-2.
Hurd lost 3-0 to Asian champion Mao Jingdian, the former three-time class 8 Paralympic champion from China and did not progress after losing in three close sets to the Chinese world No 10 and former four-time Asian champion Xiong Guiyan.
The tournament continues with the doubles events which conclude on Sunday.