British athletes looking to secure qualification for Paris in Poland

Commonwealth champions Jack Hunter-Spivey and Joshua Stacey are among nine British Para table tennis team athletes hoping to consolidate or improve their world ranking in this week’s ITTF Polish Para Open in Wladyslawowo (March 26-29), the last tournament in the qualification period for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

The squad also includes former World champion Ross Wilson, Tokyo medallist Paul Karabardak, World and European medallist Martin Perry and13-year-old Bly Twomey, gold medallist in Italy earlier this month.

“This is a difficult time for the athletes who are on the borderline of qualification,” said BPTT Performance Director Gorazd Vecko, “and are looking for good results in Poland that will ensure direct qualification for Paris when the new world rankings are published in April.  The qualification system has been even tougher this time and, in some classes, even a top five world ranking will not guarantee qualification so this will be a very important tournament for the team with many talented athletes from around the world also fighting for their place in Paris.”

For those athletes who do not qualify directly on their world ranking there will be a final chance to qualify at the Paralympic World Qualification Tournament taking place in Thailand from May 23-25.

The British squad for the ITTF Polish Para Open is:

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

Bly Twomey, 13, Brighton – class 7

Fliss Pickard, 29, Burnley/Sheffield – class 6

Jack Hunter-Spivey, 28, Liverpool/Sheffield – class 5

Joshua Stacey, 24, Cardiff/Sheffield – class 9

Martin Perry, 29, Paisley/Dumbarton – class 6

Megan Shackleton, 25, Todmorden/Sheffield – class 4

Paul Karabardak, 38, Swansea – class 6