Grace Williams Chases Paris Spot In Welsh Quartet To Play In Czech Republic

By Francesca Bullock

Welsh Para table tennis stars Rob Davies, Paul Karabardak, Josh Stacey and Grace Williams have been included in a squad of 13 Great Britain athletes for this week’s ITTF Czech Para Open in Ostrava (June 20-22).

It will be the final tournament for the British Para Table Tennis team before the Paralympic Games later this summer.

Good luck to squad of 13 @BritishParaTT athletes in Czech Open starting Thursdayhttps://t.co/xqgLdTQQqq@WillBayleytt Theo Bishop @robbie_tt Ashley Facey @PaulKarabardak @Kibsta91 @martinTTperry @FlissPick @megshackleton @billyshiltstt @Joshua_Stacey1 Bly Twomey & Grace Williams

— British Para TT (@BritishParaTT) June 18, 2024

Davies, Karabardak and Stacey have all already secured their places for Paris through their rankings, but this will be another chance for European silver medallist Williams to push for selection.

“The plan for the Czech Open is very much around preparation for the Paralympics for those players going to Paris and those looking towards going to LA,” said BPTT programme manager Shaun Marples.

https://twitter.com/RichBond00/status/1795010062152286368

“What we want to get out of the competition is valuable match experience now this is the last opportunity before the Paralympic Games, both in the singles and also with the doubles to see that the combinations that we have for Paris are working well and will be fully prepared for the Games.

“As a team we value all the medals and all the events that we participate in. With doubles being equally important in Paris we feel that it is a great opportunity for the partnerships to work together in a competitive environment playing against athletes they are probably going to face in Paris.”

https://twitter.com/C4Paralympics/status/1366366598756499459

The British squad for the ITTF Czech Open (June 20-22) is:

Will Bayley, 36, Tunbridge Wells/Brighton – class 7 (doubles only)

Theo Bishop, 21, Rossendale/Sheffield – class 7

Rob Davies, 39, Brecon – class 1

Ashley Facey, 29, London (Stratford)/Sheffield – class 9

Paul Karabardak, 38, Swansea – class 6

Aaron McKibbin, 32, London (Wandsworth)/Epsom – class 8

Martin Perry, 29, Paisley/Dumbarton – class 6

Fliss Pickard, 29, Burnley/Sheffield – class 6

Megan Shackleton, 24, Todmorden/Sheffield – class 4

Billy Shilton, 25, Stonehouse (Gloucester)/Sheffield – class 8

Joshua Stacey, 24, Cardiff/Sheffield – class 9

Bly Twomey, 14, Brighton – class 7

Grace Williams, 21, Llanfyllin/Sheffield – class 8