Billy Shilton had something of a baptism of fire in his first Paralympic match as he took on the World number one Viktor Didukh.
The 34-year-old four-time European champion and former World champion from Ukraine took the first two games 11-4 but Stonehouse- based Shilton kept fighting and had two points to take the third game at 10-8 before Didukh secured a 3-0 win 12-10 in the third.
Shilton, 22, said: “It was obviously an amazing experience playing here, like nothing I have seen before or competed in before and then having to play the World number one who is so good and has dominated for so long it was really difficult, to be honest.
“If I had taken that third set maybe that would have given me a bit of confidence and I could have pushed him a bit harder, so I was disappointed not to win that third set but on the whole, it was a great experience.”
Shilton plays his final group match this evening against the African champion Victor Farinloye from Nigeria.
