Shae Thakker
Date and Place of Birth: 06/08/2003, Hillingdon
Hometown: Denham, Buckinghamshire
Currently lives: Sheffield
TT Class: 10
Current world ranking: 31
International debut: 2015, Belgium Open
Shae’s story
Shae started playing table tennis at primary school when he was introduced to the sport by his head teacher John Underwood. He progressed to the school team and played at his local club before joining British Para Table Tennis in 2014.
“I wasn’t great at many sports when I was at primary school and didn’t quite make the football team,” said Shae, “but I really enjoyed playing table tennis with my friends and actually beating them. Being selected for the table tennis team made me feel that I was good at something and was being recognised for something which maybe I hadn’t been before, so it made me feel good. I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t have found table tennis if it wasn’t played at my school. I’m really lucky that my head teacher was so enthusiastic and wanted to win so much and that rubbed off on me. I was quite introverted and reserved and table tennis gave me the confidence and the desire to enjoy my life. I’m not the most competitive by nature but loved having something to do in the evenings and that’s how it started.”
Shae made his international debut in 2015 and achieved his first success two years later, winning gold in the men’s class 10 singles at the Romania Junior Open. He took bronze in the men’s class 10 singles at the Copa Costa Rica in 2019 and after representing GB in the European Para Youth Games in June 2022 he won gold in the men’s class 10 singles at the European Universities Games in Poland, beating the World number 7 and European bronze medallist Igor Misztal.
“Playing the European Universities Games has been a fantastic experience,” he said. “I am really proud to come away with a gold medal for my university. I’ve lost to Misztal quite a few times and to beat him 3-2 is definitely the best win of my career so far. I will take a lot of positives from this tournament and hopefully use the confidence I have in future events.”
In 2023 Shae took bronze in the men’s class 10 singles at the US Open and the following year he won his first senior international title, taking gold in the men’s class 10 singles at the French Para Open.
“I’m very proud to win my first gold medal for GB,” he said. “It feels like it’s been a long time coming and I’m so happy to finally have achieved this. To beat a player in the top 15 in the world in the semi-final gave me a lot of confidence and I tried to take this into the final. It was a good match, and my opponent was very strong and kept fighting so I’m very happy to have managed to win in the end, saving four match points.”
In January 2025 he was selected for the Performance squad and is working towards qualification for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shae was born with club foot and also has complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) affecting his balance and the nerves in his right leg. Having obtained a BSc in psychology he is now studying for a Masters in sport and exercise psychology at Sheffield Hallam University.
2024 Results
French Para Open – gold, men’s singles (class 10); QF, men’s doubles (class 18)
2023 Results
Finland Para Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); QF, men’s doubles (class 18); group stages, mixed doubles (class 17-20)
US Para Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 10); silver, men’s doubles (class 18); group stages, mixed doubles (class 20)
Montenegro Para Championships – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); L16, men’s doubles (class 18)
2022 Results
European Universities Games, Poland – gold, men’s singles (class 10)
European Para Youth Games – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); QF, men’s teams (class 10)
2021 Results
French Open – QF, men’s singles (class 10); bronze, men’s teams (class 10)
2019 Results
Copa Costa Rica – bronze, men’s singles (class 10); bronze, men’s teams (class 9-10)
Bangkok Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); group stages, men’s teams (class 10)
2018 Results
2nd Spanish Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); QF, men’s teams (class 10)
Czech Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); group stages, men’s teams (class 10)
Spanish Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); bronze, men’s teams (class 9-10)
2017 Results
Belgian Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); group stages, men’s teams (class 10)
Czech Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); bronze, men’s teams (class 9-10)
Romania Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); bronze, men’s teams (class 9-10)
Romania Junior Open – gold, men’s singles (class 10)
2016 Results
Lignano Master Junior Open, Italy – group stages, men’s singles (class 9-10)
2015 Results
Belgian Open – group stages, men’s singles (class 10); group stages, men’s teams (class 10)
Career Highlights
2024 – French Para Open – gold, men’s singles (class 10)
2023 – US Para Open – bronze, men’s singles (class 10); silver, men’s doubles (class 18)
2022 – European Universities Games, Poland – gold, men’s singles (class 10)
2017 – Romania Junior Open – gold, men’s singles (class 10)
Detailed results are available at: http://stats.ipttc.org/en/profiles/5337/tournaments