JOSHUA MAKES WELSH HISTORY
JOSHUA Stacey created history when he claimed Wales’ sixth gold medal of the Games.
The Cardiff product Stacey defeated Lin Ma in the final of the men’s classes 8-10 singles to become Wales’ first para-table tennis Commonwealth Games champion.
Stacey won 25-23, 5-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 to claim an overall 3-2 victory against his Australian opponent.
This was the fifth meeting between Stacey and Ma, the Chinese-born class 9 former world number one.
Ma beat Stacey 3-0 in the Tokyo Paralympic Games last year but the Welshman recorded his first win against the 32-year-old in their most recent meeting at the Costa Brava Spanish Open this year.
The hugely experienced Ma took an early lead in the first set but Stacey came back to level at 8-8 and had the first chance to win it at 10-9.
From there it developed into a titanic battle with both players holding game points before Stacey finally clinched it 25-23 to a huge cheer from the crowd.
Unsurprisingly Ma responded by raising his level and he came back to take the next two sets.
But Stacey kept his composure and raced into a 6-1 lead in the fourth before taking it 11-6 to level at 2-2 and take the match into a fifth and deciding set.
Once again he started well, using his forehand to great effect to take a 5-0 lead and to the delight of the crowd he clinched the gold medal on his first match point.
Afterwards he acknowledged how important it was to win the first set.
“To be honest, the main thing that it helped me with was to find the tactic that really put Ma under a lot of pressure,” said the 22-year-old.
“It allowed me to apply my game rather than be on the back foot and try to scrape points.
“Winning it was huge – if I lose that set that momentum is not with me and who knows what the result could have been.
“In the second set I feel that Ma really changed his tactics very well and he put me under the pressure that I felt I put him under in the last two.
“At 2-1 down I feel like I kept with one tactic but just mixed it up between the short serve to the forehand and long into the backhand just to make sure he was always unaware as to what I was doing.
“It allowed me to get on to my forehand and whenever we did go topspin to topspin it was me that came out on top, so I was trying to force that rally on him.
“In the fifth set I feel that my start really set the tone. I think after that ball when I was 1-0 up and I looped a ball down the line for 2-0 I felt his head drop a little bit and that gave me a bit of a kick to try to push on and beat him as easily as possible.
“He’s a phenomenal player and has pretty much done it all, so it’s an unbelievable result for me.”
Watched by his friends and family, it was an emotional win for the young Welshman, who had claimed bronze on the Gold Coast four years ago and is surely destined to win more major titles.
“The atmosphere in the hall was incredible,” said Stacey.
“I’ve been a part of the supporters while the Welsh girls have been competing and they did an unbelievable job all tournament. It was phenomenal – we never really get to experience it because we never have a home Games but to have it and get the result I got, I’ll never forget it.
“I was thinking about my grandad on the podium. To have family and friends here means everything – it is something you dream of and I’m beyond thankful to have achieved it.
“I feel like I’ve shown that I’m capable of winning more titles. Ma Lin has a better head-to-head record than me and the fact that I could beat him knowing that he usually beats me, I don’t see why I can’t go on and win more major titles.”