Billy Shilton secured top place in his group at the ITTF European Para Table Tennis Championships in Sheffield.
Stonehouse-based Shilton secured a a 3-1 win against Robert Boroleanu but after dropping only six points in the first two sets he had to work hard in the end to come through 11-8 in the fourth after the Romanian had edged the third set 17-15.
“I think I needed that to be honest,” said Shilton. “I was 2-0 up and then at 2-1 I felt a bit of pressure when he was winning all the points and it was difficult. So, it was nice to be under a bit of pressure and come through and I think it is going to help me later on. I think I’m playing well. He had a really good tactic against me in that match – he was giving me all the balls at the start and I was moving on to the shots really well and then he changed things and I found it quite difficult so that is one thing I need to look at going into the next round but I’m really happy to have won the group.
“The support today and yesterday has been so good – it’s nice to have mum and dad and my two brothers here and it’s nice for them to see me play.”
