McKibbin shines at National Championships with three titles

Aaron McKibbin bounced back from disappointing results at the Paralympic Games by sweeping the board at the Michael Hawkesworth National Championships in Sheffield this weekend, winning the Open Standing Singles, Class 8 and Open Standing Doubles titles while Jack Hunter-Spivey retained his Open Wheelchair title and Megan Shackleton retained her Women's Wheelchair Open class as well as taking the Class 3-5 and the Open Wheelchair doubles titles.

Having won team medals in London, Rio and Tokyo Londoner McKibbin, who is now based in Epsom, had high hopes of taking singles and doubles medals in Paris but returned empty-handed and admitted that it has been a tough couple of months.

“It is obviously always really nice to win any national title,” he said. “I didn’t come here with many expectations off the back of Paris and it’s been a tough month or so to be honest so I’m really happy that I played very well, and it is always nice to win three titles.

“It’s been really tough – it’s probably the worst I’ve felt after a tournament but at the same time I know I played well in Paris and that’s sport – sometimes you lose. Leading up to the Games I believed I was in the best shape of my life and I genuinely went there to win the whole thing so to come away with no medal was a different experience for me - not winning a medal at a Games. But I think I played better at these Games than I’ve probably played in my whole career and that just shows how sport is – it doesn’t necessarily mean that the person playing best comes away with the medal. The last month has been tough, and motivation has been low but this is definitely a bit of a boost and I’m just happy that I could carry on playing the level I’ve been playing.”

McKibbin secured the Open standing title with a 3-1 win in the final against 20-year-old class 10 Pathway player Max Flint, who fought back well from 2-0 down to take the third set and led 5-1 in the fourth before McKibbin used his experience to level and then edge the set 12-10. Flint was one of several young players to demonstrate the improvement they have made and highlight the growing pool of talent in the British Para table tennis programme.

“For me the national championships is really important,” said McKibbin. “This is how I got into the team – I won a national title and was spotted by the coaches. It is the route you take if you are going to get to the top and I think it is important we play this tournament – so that the young players can see the level they need to get to and understand it takes a lot of hard work to get to that level. I think it also shows that British Para table tennis is very strong. There are kids coming up through the Pathway and outside the Pathway - I’ve seen some new people here this weekend I’ve never seen before. I think that is what we need if we want to compete with the best nations, we need many players who are also pushing us. It’s not a given that we are going to be on the team and go to the internationals - we need to get pushed by the younger people, so it is very positive and good signs for the future.”

Liverpool’s Jack Hunter-Spivey was devastated to miss out on qualification for Paris having taken bronze in Tokyo and he also put a difficult few months behind him to come back fighting and defeat fellow class 5 athlete Simon Heaps in the final 3-0.

“It’s great to be national champion,” said Hunter-Spivey, “to be the best wheelchair player in the country is something that I never take lightly. The standard is always getting better, and we have players who are pushing me more and more. There were some great matches in the semis and quarters with the other competitors as well. The level of Para table tennis in the world is getting much stronger and I’m just proud to say I’m still national champion after all these years.

“It’s been a tough year. I’ve had to look after myself on and off the table. I’ve really got stuck into other things outside of sport trying to make a real impact on the world not just in table tennis so it’s great to finish by winning the nationals and to go into the winter break with a new-found perspective on life. My training is going well, and I feel I’m playing the best I’ve ever done - signing back in the German league has been really helpful as well and l believe in what I can do so I’m feeling good for the winter and the season ahead.”

In the absence of some of the Performance athletes it was a chance for the promising young players to challenge for the titles and 19-year-old Jacob Wicks secured his first National title in class 6 with 3-0 wins against Fliss Pickard and Dan Thomson.

“I’m so glad to do it finally,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming and I’ve been training a lot so it’s nice to see it paying off.”

The Welshman from Cwmbran has recently moved to Sheffield where he combines training with the British squad with studying policing at Sheffield Hallam University.

“Moving to Sheffield has helped so much,” he said. “I wouldn’t be playing at this level if I hadn’t moved here and had the ability to train every day with top coaches and top players. Playing in the French Open last week was good – to experience the international games, different styles, different coaches.

“It’s so good playing in the Nationals against top players like Fliss. It helps you gain that match experience and learn to stay calm so that when you go abroad, and you have the opportunity to play these players you can be as prepared as possible. I just want to try and build on this, gain a world ranking and gain as many points as I can to give me the best chance of fulfilling my dream of playing in the Paralympics.”

Megan Shackleton came agonisingly close to a medal in the women’s class 4 singles in Paris and she came out on top in the round-robin class 3-5 singles, clinching the title by recovering from a set down to beat Simon Heaps 3-1.

“It feels like quite a long time since Paris,” she said. "We've been back in training for a couple of weeks and off the back of the Games I’ve got a lot of things that I want to work on and improve going forwards. It’s been nice to have the opportunity to try and test some of it here and it’s been going well so I’m feeling positive.

“It’s really nice to have a national title especially playing against some of the guys in some of the other classifications – it’s good for them to push me in terms of my movement and thinking tactically and smart. There are obviously some really good players in the mix so I’m really proud to take a national title.”

Following her two Paralympic medals 14-year-old Bly Twomey secured her first National title in class 7. Also played in a round-robin format the class was decided by the final match in which Twomey beat Theo Bishop 3-1.

“It feels amazing to get my first national title in Sheffield and I’m really proud,” said Twomey. “Theo is a brilliant player and he normally beats me so I’m really proud to get the win and to have Ryan Goodier coaching me is amazing as well.  He was a massive help to my game – we’ve been best friends for three years and I don’t think I could have done it without him and I’m really proud to have him by my side. I think I’ve improved a lot since Paris. Before I would have felt a lot of pressure in that match but now I just take every game as it comes.”

Fliss Pickard lost out in the class 6 event but produced a great performance to beat defending champion Lianna Shillani Tousi 3-2 to win the women’s open standing class.

“I’ve had a tough month or so since coming back from Paris,” said Pickard, “but I’m glad I kept fighting and that is what I’m all about so to get that win today meant a lot. Winning another National title means an awful lot especially being in class 6 and up against it all the time, but I feel that I did myself proud out there and showed everyone what Fliss Pickard is all about.”

Chris Ryan rounded off his second season as a table tennis athlete by winning his first national title in men’s class 2 and further highlighted his rapid improvement with a 3-1 win against Megan Shackleton in the quarterfinal of the Open wheelchair class before losing to Hunter-Spivey in the semi-finals.

“It’s been a busy week,” said Ryan, who won doubles gold and singles silver in the French Open last week. “Lots of games and lots of preparation trying to be ready for each game so I’m pleased I managed to get through that and stay focused and beat the people I needed to beat. Because I play most days it is hard to see your own improvement but the fact that I can be in a match with Megan now is a big improvement. A year ago she was absolutely smashing me in the training hall in straight sets so it’s been a lot of hard work. Those guys have taught me so much – just watching them apply their craft helps me massively and it is as good as a lesson just watching them. You’re learning things all the time and understanding how they are manipulating the ball and the table, so it is really interesting and I’m really enjoying it. Hopefully I can improve a similar amount next year.”

Having just missed out on qualification for Paris after being reclassified last September Ross Wilson dropped only one set in his four round-robin matches to win class 9-10.

“It was good to play and nice to compete again,” said Wilson, “and to win another national title is a great feeling going into the end of the year. It’s been a tough 12 months and a steep learning curve which has been good for me as well so it’s nice to finish the year on a high.”

After contesting the class 8 singles final Aaron McKibbin and Billy Shilton retained their Open Standing doubles title after beating Ryan Henry and Theo Bishop 3-1 in the final while Megan Shackleton combined with Simon Heaps to win the Wheelchair doubles title, beating Chris Ryan and Romain Simon in the final 3-0.

Class 1 went to Tom Matthews, Harry Fairchild won Class 11 without dropping a set and Lianna Shillani Tousi took the Junior title. Other winners were Ryan Morton (Open Standing Class B) and Adnan Janoowalla, who beat Fairchild 3-1 in the final of Open Standing Class C.

Full results are available to view here: https://www.britishparatabletennis.com/blogs/news/bptt-national-championships-draw-programme