Bailey edged out of the medals in France

Tokyo medallist Sue Bailey was just edged out of the medals in the women’s class 4 singles at the French Para Open in Saint Quentin en Yvelines today, losing her quarterfinal to Joyce De Oliveira from Brazil after a nail-biting final set.

She led the head-to-head against De Oliveira 7-2 but the Brazilian World number nine had won their most recent meeting at the Dutch Open in 2019 and she edged a tight first set 14-12. Bailey took the second 11-6 and the third 11-9 to lead 2-1 but De Oliveira took the fourth 11-6 to level at 2-2. In the deciding set Bailey led 7-2 and 9-4 but point by point the 31-year-old four-time PanAmerican champion reduced the deficit and although Bailey saved a match point at 10-9 down she could not save the second and De Oliveira took the set 12-10 and the match 3-2.

“The singles competition has been both tough and a great learning opportunity for the players,” said BPTT Pathway Manager Shaun Marples. “The standard here has been very high. Sue played some very good table tennis in patches and Joyce is a very steady player who doesn’t miss many balls. We asked the Pathway players to show fight and preparation and there was a good display of this but at the same time there are areas to work on to push the athletes to feel comfortable and believe that they can compete with the top players.”

The tournament continues with the men's, women's and mixed doubles events.