Four Welsh Players Make GB Squad For Rio

Table Tennis Wales logo

Wales will have four players in the Great Britain table tennis team for this summer’s Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. The line-up of athletes includes current world No.1 Rob Davies, from Brecon, with the team brimming with experience gained from London 2012, including current Paralympic bronze medallists Paul Davies (Bridgend) & Sara Head (Beddau). Paul Karabardak from Swansea completes the Welsh line-up, where he will be attending his second Paralympic Games.

Wales will have four players in the Great Britain table tennis team for this summer’s Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The line-up of athletes includes current world No.1 Rob Davies, from Brecon, with the team brimming with experience gained from London 2012, including current Paralympic bronze medallists Paul Davies (Bridgend) & Sara Head (Beddau). Paul Karabardak from Swansea completes the Welsh line-up, where he will be attending his second Paralympic Games.

Rob Davies, the 31-year-old former rugby player from Brecon, was disappointed to be knocked out of the singles competition at London 2012 in the group stages but has since fought back to become double European champion and is the current world No.1 in men’s class 1.

He said: “After working so hard, it’s a relief to be selected and I’m really excited to be part of the team for Rio, it’s another chance for me to prove that I can produce my best on the biggest stage. Not many people get to put that GB kit on and I want to do everyone proud.

“It was London that definitely inspired me and I’ve improved so much since then. Before London I was an outside chance but in Brazil I will go in as one of the favourites. Like every athlete I want the gold medal but the competition will be really tough.”

Penny Briscoe, ParalympicsGB chef de mission for Rio 2016, said: “These talented players have put a huge amount of hard graft in to earn their selection, and I’m delighted to announce that they’re now part of the ParalympicsGB team for Rio.

“Paralympic table tennis is fiercely competitive and huge credit should go to Performance Director Gorazd Vecko and his team who have continued to build on the work that resulted in four medals at London 2012. These players are very bright prospects for Rio, and behind them are the next generation of athletes for Tokyo 2020, so it’s a hugely exciting time for this sport.”

Performance director Gorazd Vecko said: “Four years ago we had nine players qualified for London and we now have 12 players qualified for Rio so we are in a better position than we were in 2012 when we won four medals.

“Our target is four to six medals and we are on track to achieve that. For the first time we have two athletes who are World number one in their class – Rob Davies in men’s class 1 and Will Bayley in men’s class 7 – and we have three other players in the top five in the World.

“The players are working hard and have also been training abroad which will bring them to a higher level but we should not forget that other countries are also working hard and it will be a massive challenge for us. We are doing everything we can to ensure our players are ready in September and we hope the results will be there.”

Today’s announcement brings the number of selected athletes to a total of 22, across the sports of sailing, judo and table tennis.

Selected athletes (table tennis):

Will Bayley (class 7)
Born: Poole
Home town: Tunbridge Wells
Lives/trains: Sheffield

Jane Campbell (class 3)
Home town: London

Paul Davies (class 1)
Home town: Bridgend
Lives: North Cornelly

Rob Davies (class 1)
Home town: Brecon
Born: Abergavenny

Kim Daybell (class 10)
Home town: Sheffield
Lives/studies: Leeds

Sue Gilroy (class 4)
Home town: Barnsley

Sara Head (class 3)
Home town: Pontypridd
Lives: Beddau

Jack Hunter-Spivey (class 5)
Home town: Liverpool
Lives/trains: Sheffield

Paul Karabardak (class 6)
Home town: Swansea

Aaron McKibbin (class 8)
Home town: London
Lives/trains: Sheffield