Stonehouse table tennis star Billy Shilton claimed gold for the British team in the men’s Class 8 singles at the ITTF World Para Challenger Władysławowo in Poland.
Shilton began the tournament in dominant form, defeating Poland’s Kamil Kowalski and Brazil’s Jean Carlos de Souza Mashki 3–0 to top his group and progress to the round of 16. There he faced last year’s bronze medallist, Poland’s Maksym Chudzicki. After falling 2–1 behind, Shilton fought back to secure a 3–2 victory and a place in the quarter-finals.
In the quarter-finals he met reigning European champion Clément Berthier of France. Berthier had beaten Shilton 3–1 at the ITTF European Para Table Tennis Championships last November, but this time Shilton started strongly, taking the first set 11–1 and going on to win the match 3–0 in convincing fashion.
A 3–0 victory in the semi-final against Poland’s Marcin Zieliński sent him through to the final, where he faced Ukraine’s world number four Maksym Nikolenko. The opening set was closely contested, with Shilton edging it 12–10 before going on to secure a 3–0 win and the gold medal.
“It feels really good to win the first tournament of the year,” said Shilton. “I feel like I always play well here and I was really happy with the level I played. I’ve been working a lot since the Europeans with all the coaches in Sheffield, which led to what I feel is the best match I’ve played so far in my career.
“David and I had a lot of conversations about how to adapt my game, and I’ve been doing a lot of work with Matjaž and Andrew. It’s really nice to see that in those pressure moments, when the pressure is on, I can do those things that I’ve been practising.”
