Shae Thakker took silver in the men’s class 10 singles on the ITTF World Para Challenger Astana Tournament in Kazakhstan and there were also bronze medals for Plymouth Teenager Bailey Page in Herenklasse 7 and Fliss Pickard in women’s class 6.
Men’s class 10 RR
In the opening match of the Round-Robin Herenklasse 10, Shae Thakker (shown above) won the Battle of the British against Max Flint 3-1 and was then a 3-0 winner against Makhanbet Nassikhan from Kazakhstan.
He was impressive in beating the Russian Ivan Karpov 3-0 and had his chances of taking the second set against Igor Misztal before the world no. 10 from Poland beat it 12-10 and won 3-0.
“I am happy with my singles results here in Kazakhstan,” said Thakker, “and delighted to reach a silver medal to reflect the hard work that the coaches and I have done, especially since I completed my masters at Sheffield Hallam University.
“I think the tournament has emphasized the importance of getting some extra match play in England, so that I am better prepared for these international tournaments. However, I have a number of good victories and a difficult loss for Misztal where I will think for further improvement.
“I would also like to thank Fran (BPTT Physio Fran Lace) for helping a number of recent Negroes, which has been so influential in my results here.”
Flint lost a tight first set against Igor Misztal 12-10 and the post took the game 3-0. The student of Loughborough University recovered from losing the first set 11-0 against Makhanbet Nassikhan to win 3-1, but missed bronze after losing 3-1 to Ivan Karpov.
Men’s class 7
After taking two medals in the European Para Youth matches Last week, 18-year-old Bailey Page showed his character and potential with a Vecht 3-2 victory against Daniil Domanevskii, where the decisive set was taken 12-10 after the Russian world no. 16 returned from 2-0 to 2-2.
Page fought back from 2-1 to beat Kai Skibbe from Germany 3-2 and went to the semi-final as a group second after losing 3-1 to Kosuke Hemmi, the New Taipei City Para Open gold medal winner from Japan.
In the semi-final page, the Nr. 1 Seed Michal Deigler took on and he took the second set 11-4 to 1-1 before the World No 4 from Poland took the next two sets 11-9 11-7 for a 3-1 win.
“I am very proud to win my first senior international singles medal,” said Page. “I feel that I have produced some very good table tennis this week and have shown that I can compete at a very high level.
“Al mijn wedstrijden waren heel dichtbij, en deze laten zien dat ik diep kan graven en een manier vinden om te winnen. Ik was bijzonder blij met het verslaan van de wereld nr. 16-hoewel ik 2-0, 10-6 omhoog was en hij kwam terug naar het niveau op 2-2 Ik ben niet in paniek en vond een manier om te winnen. Het spelen van Deigsler die ik vond als ik positief was en was ik gepleegd voor mijn spel en speelde ik de beste kans om te winnen en ik speelde heel goed in A tight match.
“In general, this has been a great tournament for me and I am very happy that my hard work is bearing fruit. However, there is always room for more improvement, and I am looking forward to placing my mistakes in the training hall.”
Ladies class 6
Fliss Pickard recovered from dropping the first set to beat Barbara Jablonka van Polen 3-1 and was then beaten 3-0 by the 35-year-old Russian newcomer Gulmira Gonobina.
That brought Pickard to the semi -final as second place where she stood another Russian in the veteran former World No 1 Raisa Chebanika. The last two played in 2019 with Chebanika who led 14-1 in their head-to-head and it was desperate close to the level today with Pickard back to level before the London 2012 Paralympic champion turned the decisive set 12-10 to win 3-2.
“It has been difficult here,” said Pickard, “but these are the matches I came for. Raisa played well today and is the whole season to be honest. Now I have more matches in the couch for the US next week.”
Men’s class 6
Dan Thomson was a 3-1 winner against Kanat Ussenov from Kazakhstan and was then beaten 3-1 by Piotr Manturz, lost 3-0 to Polish World No. 16 in the European Para Youth matches last week. Thomson went to the knockout phase as second place and lost his quarterfinals 3-0 to the 29-year-old Russian Timur Khusnullin.
Jacob Wicks started with a 3-1 victory against Nurkozha Kadyrbek from Kazakhstan and had his chances of taking the first set against Lee Se HO before the Korean beat it 17-15 and started winning 3-0. Wicks did not progress from group 3 after a loss of 3-0 against Khusnullin.
Men’s class 8
Ryan Henry was a 3-0 winner against Mohit Singh from Germany and led Maksym Chudzicki 2-1 before the world no. 8 came back from Poland to win 3-2. Henry progressed as second place and was hit 3-0 in the quarterfinals by the Russian world No. 20 Artem Iakovlev, gold medal winner in the World Para Future Lignano in Italy earlier this year.
The national junior champion Jaiden Caldeira led former world and paralympic team champion Piotr Grudzien with 2-0 before the enormously experienced World No 10 from Poland negatives the fourth set 13-11 on 2-2 and achieved the decisive set 11-6 for a 3-2 victory.
Caldeira lost 3-1, 12-10 in the fourth against the Russian Nikita Novikov and did not progress from group 2 after losing a close match against the Paralympic World Warification Tournament Bronze-Medalwinner Ali Makhulbekov from last year from NEW COUNTY 11-8.
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