Comeback win down to change of tactics

YOUNG FIGHTER’S SLOVAKIAN SUCCESS Table tennis

Paralympic champion Will Bayley won gold at the Bayreuth Open in Germany last weekend.

Bayley reached the final of the men’s class 7 singles without dropping a set, topping his group and beating Maksym Nikolenko, the Ukrainian who had replaced him as world No.1.

Nikolenko took the first two sets but Bayley, 29, fought back to win the next three.

Bayley, from Tunbridge Wells, said: “I’m so happy to win the gold.

“It was amazing to have coach Andrew Rushton in my corner and the gold medal was a perfect end to a good singles performance.

“At 2- 0 down in the final, I changed my tactics and started to play more positively.

“After he dominated the first two sets, I managed to dominate the last three.”