Bronze success in Slovakia
Paisley’s Martin Perry insists he is going from strength- to- strength after picking up another bronze medal.
Perry was in action for the Great Britain side at the Para-Table Tennis World Team Championships in Slovakia, competing in the men’s class six competition.
The British team took three bronze medals at the men’s class one, men’s class six and women’s class four/five events, with Perry playing a starring role.
And having moved his training to Sheffield in recent months to link up with the international side, Perry revealed that he believes that he is starting to reap the benefits of the work he is putting in south of the border.
Perry said: “I feel that is definitely the strongest performance we’ve had as a team.
“We are such a tight knit unit and that is going to stand us in good stead for the future.
“It’s been such an eyeopening experience – my first major championships – and to do it alongside Dave Wetherill and Paul Karabardak who have done multiple Paralympic Games and maj o r championships – I can only thrive off that.”
After t h e i r g reat win against European champions Denmark, Karabardak, Wetherill and Perry ensured their progress to the men’s class six semi- final as group winners with a 2- 0 win against Chile.
Ka r a b a rda k and Wetherill combined well to win the doubles 3- 0 and Karabardak won the tie with a 3-1 victory over Matias Pino Lorca.
They then made a great start to their semi- final against Croatia, winning the doubles 3-0, and from 2- 0 down Wetherill was just edged out in a thrilling match against Pavao Jozic, 12-10 in the fifth.
That left Karabardak to play the deciding singles and he was beaten for the first time in the tournament by Vjekoslav Gregorovic, 13-11 in the fourth.
Elsewhere, Paul Davies and Tom Matthews were denied the gold medal in men’s class one on countback at the end of the round-robin event.
They won their first doubles match of the tournament against Hungary but Endre Major levelled the tie with a 3-1 win against Davies.
Matthews has had to win the deciding singles in their previous two matches, and he did so again, beating Janos Kaiser 3-0 to win the tie for Britain 2-1.