Martin Perry
Date and place of birth: 08/05/1994, Paisley
Home town: Paisley
Lives: Dumbarton
Current world ranking: 8
International debut: 2013, Hungarian Open
Major titles: European team champion 2017/2019
Martin’s story:
The youngest of four brothers Martin has always had a passion for sport despite being born without either forearm or the bottom part of his left leg. He played a number of sports including football, basketball, rugby and hockey before being introduced to table tennis at a Scottish Disability Sport summer camp where he met the person who was to have a huge influence on his sporting career, Terry McLernon MBE.
“I fell in love with table tennis that first day even though I could barely hit a ball,” he recalls. “Terry said if I enjoyed it I could come along to Drumchapel TT Club and get some training and I haven’t really looked back since. Terry has coached so many promising players through his system at Drumchapel - the club has a great history and that all comes through him.”
Martin joined the BPTT Pathway programme in 2013 and having missed out on qualification for the Paralympic Games in 2016 he won his first international title at the US Open later that year. He was part of the team that won gold in the men’s class 6 team event at the European Championships in 2017 and went on to retain the title in 2019. In 2019 he set up a crowdfunding account to help him compete in as many tournaments as possible in his bid to qualify for Tokyo in 2020 but his Paralympic dream was shattered when he lost a five-set quarterfinal to the Japanese player Kazuki Shichino at the final World Qualification Tournament.
In 2022 having narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the World Championships he received a wild card to compete in Spain and made the most of the opportunity by taking bronze in the men’s class 6 singles – his first major singles medal – a performance that saw him break into the world’s top 10 for the first time.
"I'm so incredibly happy and proud to have got a bronze medal at my first World Championships,” he said. “On paper I shouldn't have been here because I didn't qualify but I was lucky enough to get a wild card because the organising committee and the ITTF believed in me so to come away with a bronze is the best feeling ever. I've also been made aware that I am now Scotland's most successful male table tennis player and to represent Great Britain and Scotland at the highest level makes me very proud. To me this bronze medal is a gold."
Martin consolidated that result with another great performance at the European Championships in Sheffield in 2023, taking bronze in the men’s class 6 singles as well as bronze in the men’s class 14 doubles with Aaron McKibbin.
“Of course, I’m super proud that I’ve got another major championship singles medal,” he said. “To come off the back of the World Championship last year I’ve proven to myself and everyone that it wasn’t just a one-time performance - I can play these big championships and play them well.”
In December 2023 Martin had further cause for celebration when his wife Siobhain gave birth to their daughter Beira.
Martin started 2024 by taking silver in the US Open and secured qualification for his first Paralympic Games in Paris with further singles medals in Italy, Spain and Poland.
Although he didn’t take a medal in Paris, Martin reached the quarterfinals of the men’s class 14 doubles with Will Bayley – losing 3-2 to European champions Clement Berthier and Esteban Herrault from France – before losing in the last 16 of the men’s class 6 singles to defending champion Ian Seidenfeld from USA.
“This has been the highlight of my career and up there with one of the best experiences of my life,” he said. “To come to France where my family and friends and supporters could come along because it’s only down the road from back home is amazing. The whole experience and privilege of playing at a Paralympics and representing your country at the highest level is an honour that I’ll never forget. I can now say I am a Paralympian, and I always will be and that’s something that fills me with so much pride and joy.”
Through his involvement as a volunteer with Drumchapel TT Club, which provides table tennis classes for young people from an area of multiple social deprivations, including those with disabilities, Martin was selected to take part in BBC TV programme The One Show’s 700-mile Rickshaw Challenge in 2013 to raise money for Children in Need.
“The greatest technology we have got is what is between our ears,” he said. “It is that mind-set of ‘regardless of this disability - whatever it may be - I can actually go on and do what I want to do’. So for me to be given these opportunities to coach and do charity work just encompasses everything that the Paralympics is about – it is about showing the world that anything is possible.”
A natural with the media Martin started a new venture in lockdown – PerryPOD – as well as a PRINCE 2 project management course and is also an eloquent and gifted public speaker.
2024 Results:
Paralympic Games, Paris – L16, men’s singles (class 6); QF, men’s doubles (class 14)
Czech Open – silver, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s doubles (class 14)
Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); QF, men’s doubles (class 14); bronze, mixed doubles (class 14)
Polish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Costa Brava Spanish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14)
Lignano Masters Para Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); group stages, men’s doubles (class 14)
Astana Para Open, Kazakhstan – group stages, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s doubles (class 14)
US Open – silver, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)
2023 Results:
European Championships, Sheffield, UK – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)
Czech Para Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, mixed doubles (class 14)
Slovenia Open – L16, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)
Greek Para Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s doubles (class 14)
Lignano Masters Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); QF, men’s doubles (class 14)
2022 Results:World Championships, Spain – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Greek Open – silver, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s doubles (class 14)
Thailand Open – QF, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s doubles (class MD14)
Argentina Open – QF, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s doubles (class MD14)
Czech Open – QF, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s doubles (class MD14)
Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); L16, men’s doubles (class MD14)
Costa Brava Spanish Open – QF, men’s singles (class 6)
2021 Results:
French Open - silver, men's singles (class 6); bronze, men's teams (class 6-7)
Costa Brava Spanish Open - bronze, men's singles (class 6); bronze, men's teams (class 6-7)
World Qualification Tournament, Slovenia – QF, men’s singles (class 6)
2020 Results:
Costa Brava Spanish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); group stages, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Polish Open – gold, men’s teams (class 6); QF, men’s singles (class 6)
2019 Results:
China Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s teams (class 6)
Finland Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s teams (class 6)
European Championships, Sweden – gold, men’s teams (class 6); QF, men’s singles (class 6)
Czech Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6)
Bangkok Open, Thailand – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); group stages, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Japan Open – silver, men’s teams (class 6); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Copa Christina Hoffmann, Mexico – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Polish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); 5th, men’s teams (class 6 RR)
Slovenia Open – L16, men’s singles (class 6); QF, men’s teams (class 6)
Costa Brava Spanish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s teams (class 6)
2018 Results:
Spanish Open – bronze, men’s teams (class 6); QF, men’s singles (class 6)
Slovenian Open – silver, men’s teams (class 6); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Slovakia Open – bronze, men’s teams (class 6); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s teams (class 6); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
2017 Results
Spanish Open – gold, men’s teams (class 6); bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Belgian Open – gold, men’s teams (class 6); silver, men’s singles (class 6)
European Championships, Slovenia – gold, men’s teams (class 6); L16 men’s singles (class 6)
Bayreuth Open, Germany – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6)
World Team Championships, Slovakia – bronze, men’s class 6
Slovenia Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
2016 Results:
US Open - gold, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6)
Romania Open - silver, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6)
Romania Junior Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Spanish Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Slovenia Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 6); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Lignano Master Open, Italy - group stages, men’s singles (class 6); group stages, men’s teams (class 6)
Lignano Junior Open, Italy - gold, men’s singles (class 6)
2015 Results:
Copa Costa Rica - silver, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Belgium Open - silver, men’s teams (class 6); bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Czech Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 6-7); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Romania Open - gold, men’s teams (class 6); QF men’s singles (class 6)
Spanish Open - QF men’s singles (class 6); group stages, men’s teams (class 6)
Slovakia Open - group stages, men’s singles (class 6); QF men’s teams (class 6)
Slovenia Open - group stages, men’s singles (class 6); QF men’s teams (class 6)
Lignano Master Open, Italy - group stages, men’s singles (class 6); 4th men’s teams (class 6)
2014 Results:
Cote d’Azur International - silver, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6)
Spanish Open - silver, men’s teams (class 6-7); group stages, men’s singles (class 6)
Romania Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s singles (class 6-7)
Career Highlights:
2023: European Championships, Sheffield, UK – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s doubles (class 14)
2022: World Championships, Spain – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Greek Open – silver, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s doubles (class 14)
Slovenia Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
2021: French Open - silver, men's singles (class 6)
2019: China Open – gold, men’s teams (class 6)
Finland Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s teams (class 6)
European Championships, Sweden – gold, men’s teams (class 6); QF, men’s singles (class 6)
Czech Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6)
Bangkok Open, Thailand – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Polish Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); gold, men’s teams (class 6)
2017: Bayreuth Open, Germany – bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6)
World Team Championships, Slovakia – bronze, men’s class 6
Lignano Master Open, Italy – bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
2016: US Open - gold, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6)
Romania Open - silver, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6)
Spanish Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Lignano Junior Open, Italy - gold, men’s singles (class 6)
2015: Copa Costa Rica - silver, men’s singles (class 6); silver, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Belgium Open - silver, men’s teams (class 6); bronze, men’s singles (class 6)
Czech Open - bronze, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Romania Open - gold, men’s teams (class 6)
2014: Cote d’Azur International - silver, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s teams (class 6)
Spanish Open - silver, men’s teams (class 6-7)
Romania Open - bronze, men’s singles (class 6); bronze, men’s singles (class 6-7)