A third consecutive gold medal for Billy Shilton & Martin Perry in men’s class 14 and silver for Joshua Stacey & Aaron McKibbin in men’s class 18 were the highlights of the doubles events for the British Para Table Tennis team on the final day of the ITTF World Para Elite Beijing tournament in China.
Men’s class 14
In their opening match Billy Shilton & Martin Perry (pictured above) led 2-0 against Kim Yong Rok & Pak Kum Jin but the pair from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea levelled at 2-2 and took the deciding set 12-10. Shilton & Perry secured their place in the knockout stages with a 3-1 win against Peng Weinan & Cheng Xuanxi from China and then defeated another Chinese pair in Chen Chao & Huang Jiaxin 3-0 in the quarter-final.
That set up a semi-final against the World and Paralympic silver medallists Rungroj Thainiyom & Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri in a repeat of the ITTF World Para Elite Lasko final last month that the GB pair won in five sets. After edging a close first set 12-10 Shilton and Perry took the second 11-4 and although the Asian champions from Thailand took the third set 11-8 Shilton and Perry secured a 3-1 win, 11-9 in the fourth.
The final was a rematch with Kim Yong Rok & Pak Kum Jin and after taking the first set 11-8 they edged a tight second set 14-12 to lead 2-0. As in their earlier match Kim & Pak fought back to level at 2-2 and looked to have all the momentum but Shilton & Perry were not to be denied this time, and they took the deciding set 11-6 for a 3-2 win.
“Another great tournament for Martin and me and so pleased to win our third tournament in a row,” said Shilton. “We have worked so hard in the doubles with Rushy (head coach Andrew Rushton) and to see it all paying off is really reassuring.
“The semi-final was great – we had a really good match against them in Slovenia and it was good to prove that we could beat them again – and the final was also really good as we lost to them in the group. I really believe we are one of the best teams in the world and these results prove that. Now it’s all about getting back to the training hall and improving even more to be ready for the World Championships.”
“Amazing to get to our fifth consecutive final,” said Perry, “and our third consecutive tournament win and our second Elite on the bounce as well. We know we are one of the top teams – we’ve gone out there and proved it – so I’m super proud of Billy and me. It was a great performance from both of us, and I felt that Billy was just fantastic from start to finish which made my life so much easier.
“That’s us qualified for the World Championships now and hopefully we can continue the winning streak. It was good to get the win over Thailand 3-1 because in Slovenia it was a lot tighter and they are a top team.
“To get the win over North Korea in the final after losing to them so narrowly in the group was also really good – it was a hard-fought match against two players we’ve not seen before and thankfully we managed to get the job done and get the win.”
Will Bayley & Theo Bishop lost in four close sets to Rungroj Thainiyom & Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri and then pushed the Paralympic champions Yan Shuo & Keli Liao all the way, taking the second and third sets to lead 2-1 before the Chinese pair levelled at 2-2 and secured a 3-2 win, 11-9 in the fifth.
Men’s class 18
Joshua Stacey & Aaron McKibbin began with a 3-0 win against Yun Kwang Song & So Kwang Nam from the Democratic People’s Republic of China and then never really got going against Zhao Shuai & Lian Hao in a 3-0 loss to the Asian Para champions and Paralympic bronze medallists from China.
They progressed to the knockout stages after a 3-0 win against Laurens Devos & Marc Ledoux from Belgium and recovered from dropping the first set in their quarter-final to beat Ander Cepas & Juan Bautista Perez, the world No 2 ranked pair from Spain 3-1.
Stacey & McKibbin lost the first set of their semi-final to Zhao Yi Qing & Liu Chaodong but came back to lead 2-1 and then held their nerve to take the deciding set 11-8 after the Asian Championships bronze medallists from China had levelled at 2-2. That took them through to the final and a rematch with Zhao Shuai & Lian Hao and the Chinese pair were too strong again in a 3-0 win.
“Overall our doubles was very good,” said McKibbin. “We played really well against Spain and it was nice to get a win against the second Chinese team who we lost to in Slovenia. Credit to Zhao & Lian – they played well all competition. We played much better in the final than we did in the group against them and it gives us a few things to work on for Thailand and we can be confident going in there that we are amongst the best teams in the world.”
“It was a really good competition overall,” agreed Stacey. “I think we played really well against Spain and the other Chinese team in the semi-final today but in the final against Zhao & Lian they both highlighted things that Aaron and I need to work on. It gives us some clarity on things to improve and I’m looking forward to Thailand and trying to put it right there.”
Men’s class 4
Chris Ryan & Tom Matthews took the first set 11-5 against Kim Kyung Hyun & Park Jin Cheol before the Koreans came back to take the next three for a 3-1 win. Ryan & Matthews lost 3-0 (11-8 11-9 11-5) to the Russian pair of Dmitrii Chubarov & Rasul Nazirov and did not progress after a 3-0 loss to the Paralympic champions Jan Riapos & Peter Lovas from Slovakia.
Women’s class 20
Playing together for the first time Lowri Hurd & Grace Williams levelled at 1-1 against Xiong Guiyan & Hou Chunxiao, gold medallists in the ITTF World Para Elite Lasko before the Chinese pair went on to win 3-1. Hurd & Williams again levelled at 1-1 against Huo Xinran & Kong Wenjie but the class 10 pair from China went on to win 3-1.
Mixed class 14
Martin Perry & Grace Williams recovered from dropping the first set to beat Rungroj Thainiyom & Kanlaya Chaiwut-Kriabklang, the Asian Championships bronze medallists from Thailand 3-1. They fought back from 2-1 down to level at 2-2 against Yan Shuo & Wang Rui from China before losing the deciding set 11-9 but progressed to the quarterfinals where they lost a close opening set 13-11 to the strong Russian pair of Artem Iakovlev & Maliak Alieva who went on to win 3-0.
Billy Shilton & Fliss Pickard also lost a tight first set 13-11 to Artem Iakovlev & Maliak Alieva before losing 3-0. Shilton and Pickard led 2-0 against Hayuma Abe & Gulmira Gonobina but did not progress from their group after the Japanese/Russian pair levelled at 2-2 and then edged the deciding set 13-11.
Mixed class 17
Aaron McKibbin & Lowri Hurd began their new partnership with a 3-1 win against the Asian Para Championships bronze medallists Koyo Iwabuchi & Yuri Tomono from Japan and progressed to the quarter-finals despite a 3-0 loss to Zhao Shuai & Mao Jingdian, the Paralympic champions from China. They won the second set against Peng Weinan & Xiong Guiyan but the Asian Championships silver medallists from China took the third 11-9 and the fourth 11-7 to win 3-1.