Shackleton’s gold rush continues with medal success in Sao Paulo

Todmorden’s Megan Shackleton followed up her gold medal winning performance at last month’s US Para Open by taking gold in the women’s class 4-5 singles at the ITTF Brazilian Para Open in Sao Paulo.

Shackleton was a 3-0 winner against Nayla Soledad Kuell, the class 5 Para PanAmerican Games silver medallist from Argentina.

After edging a tight first set against Tamara Isabell Leonelli Leonelli 15-13 she completed a 3-0 win against the class 5 world number 13 and three-time Para PanAmerican champion from Chile.

In the semi-final she faced Caroline Tabib, the class 5 world number eight and 2018 world bronze medallist from Israel.

The pair met in the final of the US Open last month when Shackleton won 11-9 in the fifth and she edged it again, fighting back from 2-1 down to win 11-7 in the fifth.

That took her through to the final against Flora Vautier, the class 4 world number 10 and European doubles bronze medallist.

Shackleton and Vautier combined to win doubles gold in the Finland Para Open last year and Shackleton had won their two previous meetings, most recently in Finland last year in five sets.

After dropping the first set she recovered well and took the next two but the 19-yearold Frenchwoman forced a decider that Shackleton took 11-7 for a 3-2 win.

“Winning here in Brazil feels so nice,” said Shackleton, “especially after a great tournament in the US Open a couple of weeks ago.

"I’ve managed to pull through some tricky situations and kept building on my form and finding more fighting spirit with each match, which in the end I think really helps with confidence in those tight moments.

“My match with Caroline felt difficult but I found a way to win even when I didn’t feel I was playing so well, which was a great experience and I think that helped me dig deep in the tough moments against Flora.”

There was more medal success for Shackleton when she teamed-up with Tabib to win silver in the women’s class 5-10 doubles.

They chalked-up two 3-0 victories before their final match in the round-robin class decided the gold medal and Shackleton and Tabib had to settle for silver after a 3-0 loss to Joyce De Oliveira and Thais Fraga Severo from Brazil.