Rob Davies and Will Bayley take singles gold in France
British Para table tennis team continues its preparation for the World Para Championships in Thailand in Novembe
Rob Davies and Will Bayley successfully defended their titles in the men’s class 1 and men’s class 7 singles respectively at the ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines in France as the British Para table tennis team continues its preparation for the World Para Championships in Thailand in November. Teenager Bly Twomey also took bronze in women’s class 7.
Men’s class 1
Rob Davies was a 3-0 winner against the Hungarian world number 13 Adam Urlauber and then recovered from losing a tight second set 12-10 to beat world number eight Dmitrii Lavrov, the former two-time European bronze medallist from Russia 3-1. A 3-0 win against the American Michael Godfrey secured his place in the knockout stages as group winner and a bye into the semi-finals where he faced the 2023 European champion Endre Major. Davies looked to be in control at 2-0, 7-3 but the Hungarian is such a tough competitor and having levelled at 7-7 he saved four match points and edged a tense third set 15-13 before Davies secured a 3-1 win, 11-5 in the fourth.
That took him through to the final against world number five Federico Falco in a repeat of last year’s European Championships final that Davies won in four sets. The Italian, Paralympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024, won their most recent meeting in Slovenia in May 3-0 but Davies took the first set 11-6 before Falco levelled at 1-1 and then took a close third 13-11 after saving set points at 10-8 down. Davies took the fourth 11-8 to force a deciding set and led 10-7 but Falco levelled at 10-10 and had match points of his own before Davies edged the set 15-13 to win 3-2.
“It’s been a brilliant tournament,” said Davies, “and I’m really happy that I managed to defend my title. There’s lots to work on, but I’m really chuffed to have battled the way I did, first of all against Major and then against Falco. It’s definitely building well towards the Worlds - I’m looking forward to the next few weeks training and I’ve got another tournament in Spain next month as well. Really chuffed with the gold and I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me - especially Lewis (Jones) my PA out here who has worked really hard and makes life easy for me when I’m away at a competition. I also want to thank my wife Meg for everything she does.”
Men’s class 7
Will Bayley looked to be on his way to a 3-0 win against Patrick Vaughan, but the Irishman saved two match points and edged the third set 12-10 before Bayley secured a 3-1 win, 11-7 in the fourth. He beat former two-time European team medallist Michal Deigsler from Poland 3-0 to secure his place in the knockout stages as group winner and was quick out of the blocks in his quarterfinal against Jonas Hansson, taking the first set 11-2. He took the second 11-8 and completed a 3-0 win against the European silver medallist from Sweden, 11-8 in the third.
In the semi-final he faced world number three Sayed Youssef, the eight-time African Para champion and former World bronze medallist from Egypt who won their most recent meeting in Thailand in five sets. Once again Bayley started well, taking the first set 11-4 and then fought back from 10-7 down to take the second set 12-10 before completing an impressive 3-0 win, 11-3 in the third. That took him through to the final against world number seven Claudio Bahamondes and after taking the first set 11-6 he took the second 11-1 and the third 11-5 to beat the Para Pan American Championships silver medallist from Chile 3-0.
“I’m pretty pleased with my performance,” said Bayley. “I felt it was my best performance of the season which is good timing before the Worlds. I think Andrew (BPTT head coach Andrew Rushton) and I worked well together this week, and I dominated all my matches. I felt my movement was really good and the timing on my forehand has improved a lot over the last few weeks, so I want to keep that going now. I just need to improve in the next eight weeks and play my best for the World Championships.”
Women’s class 7
After losing the first set against Kubra Korkut, Bly Twomey led 8-3 in the second but could not capitalise and the World champion from Turkey took it 11-9 to lead 2-0. Twomey recovered from that disappointment to win the third 11-5 but Korkut took the fourth 11-6 to win 3-1. Twomey progressed to the knockout stages after a 3-1 win against Smilla Sand, the European bronze medallist from Sweden and lost her semi-final to Kelly Van Zon, the four-time Paralympic champion and world number two from the Netherlands 3-0.
“I’m very happy with bronze as this was a strong tournament,” said Twomey. “I did not play my strongest table tennis but overall, I’m happy with my performance. The second set against Kubra was crucial and if I’d taken it then it would give me more confidence going into the World Championships knowing I was closer to her. It was good to play Kelly before the Worlds as she has a lot of experience and knowledge of the game, and it helps me to know what I need to do to beat her going into the Worlds and hopefully into LA28. I wish I’d played a bit better against Kelly and given her a better game but hopefully I can do better next time.”