Rob Davies Through After Close Shave In Rio

Rob Davies has admitted nerves almost ended his Paralympic dream in round one in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

The world number one from Abergavenny beat Switzerland’s Sylvio Keller in his first round qualifier in the men’s singles class 1 table tennis.

But Davies – a former rugby player with Brecon, who suffered neck and spinal injuries in 2005 – gave his Great Britain supporters and teammates a scare when he lost two games from 2-0 ahead.

Davies rallied to win the decider for a 3-2 victory but confessed: “I wanted to finish the match but I became too eager. Then, I became nervous.

“The last time I played Sylvio, I lost. He beat me earlier this year in the Slovak Republic.

“At the end of the third game, the defeat in the Slovak Republic crossed my mind. It was a case of just battling in those last two games.”

Davies eventually came through 13-11, 11-4, 11-13, 9-11, 11-2 and the double European champion, a former wheelchair rugby player, remains favourite to take the Paralympic title.

The Cardiff City Table Tennis Club member is one of 11 table tennis players in the GB team in Rio. Between them they took away 11 medals from last year’s European Championships.

Davies added: “Winning the European title was a major boost. Since then I’ve been working on every part of my game – working with the physio and the coaches.”

Greg Baker, the national coach and former England junior international sat courtside from the start of the fifth game, which Davies won comfortably.

Baker said:  “Rob has a very good approach. He is very focused when he plays – he can beat anyone in the world.”