British Para Table Tennis receives funding increase for LA cycle

British Para Table Tennis has been awarded funding of £4,175,000 for the next Paralympic cycle, an increase of just under 10% on the £3,808,787 sum awarded during the lead-up to Paris 2024, where British athletes won two silver and three bronze medals.

The awards are part of a record UK Sport investment, with a total of £330m in Government and National Lottery funding set to benefit more than 50 sports as they embark on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games cycle.

Yesterday’s announcement follows more than a year of planning with all the sports to understand their performance strategies and ambitions for LA.

“We are delighted with the increase in funding for British Para table tennis announced yesterday,” said BPTT Performance Director Gorazd Vecko. “We have a huge platform with experienced athletes and young Pathway athletes and with the right funding we can create the environment to have our best Paralympic Games ever in LA.

“We would like to thank UK Sport for believing in us that we can deliver and also a big thank you to the National Lottery for its support. We are really happy that athletes can continue to do what they love to do and be the best supported and I would like to say thank you on behalf of British Para table tennis and all the athletes in our programme.

“Our programme is strong. We have athletes in our Performance squad who have shown that they can consistently win medals at major championships and very promising young athletes coming through the Pathway squad who we hope will be challenging for qualification for LA.

“Athletes like Chris Ryan, who has now moved into the Performance Squad and I think will have a big chance to medal in LA, as well as Theo Bishop, Jacob Wicks and Dan Thomson who are also progressing. We have a mix of older experienced athletes and young and inexperienced and if we do everything right with the programme, selection and qualification over the next four years then we are confident that everything will come together for LA.”

Sally Munday, CEO of UK Sport, said: “It’s thanks to the unwavering support of the UK Government and our wonderful National Lottery players that we are able to announce this historic investment, towards continuing to create the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments. 

“The past few years have been tough for our sports with the delayed Tokyo Games and shortened Paris cycle, and we know finances remain under extreme pressure. We have looked to relieve some of this pressure through our investment today, however we know we must continue to innovate and collaborate, together, to grow a thriving sporting system that’s fit for the future.  

“Huge credit to the leaders in our sports for all the hard work they’ve done, with us, over the past 18 months to put us in this brilliant position to be able to say we are ready to win well in the LA cycle and beyond.”